50 more ‘dump trash, get rich’ machines by June end

New Delhi: By the end of June, Delhi will have 50 hi-tech machines that will pay people for dumping trash. Six such reverse vending machines have already been installed in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area.

For this pilot project under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Union urban development ministry has tied up with EcoMaxGo, a startup that provides tech-driven waste disposal solutions. The machines transfer 20 paise to Rs 2 to the e-wallet of a person dumping dry waste.

It credits e-wallets by Rs 2 for a glass bottle, Re 1 for a plastic bottle, 50 paise for cans, and 20 paise for paper cups and wrappers. These reverse vending machines can be spotted at India Gate, Connaught Place, Sarojini Nagar, and other NDMC areas.

There will be 50 operational machines by the end of June, according to the Union urban development ministry. A total of twenty machines will be installed in the NDMC area, while the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) will have 30 machines in its colonies.

Apart from the national capital, these hi-tech machines are also being installed in Varanasi, Lucknow, and Hyderabad. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, these machines will be available in 75 cities by 2019.

The six machines in New Delhi Municipal Council  area are witnessing queues of people wanting to dispose of bottles and cans.

Thousands of bottles have been collected since the machines were made operational two weeks ago, a ministry official said. These bottles are collected and ferried to the local recycling vendors, the official added.

“Since this money is received in the e-wallet, the users need to download the wallet to use this money. When they download the wallet, they will see how it is a one stop solution to a lot of services, and they will switch to digitally paying bills and transferring money,” Madhuresh Singh, the innovator of the reverse vending machine, said.