<p>Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed Bengaluru’s efforts to address sofa and mattress waste.</p><p>His latest ‘Mann ki Baat’ address featured waste management efforts by Arun Pai, founder of Bangalore Walks.</p><p>On December 1, Pai posted a reel on social media showing how to dismantle and dispose of sofas and mattresses, in collaboration with Bellandur ward authorities.</p><p>In the video, he showed how two people can demolish a large sofa within 15 minutes, sending foam and coir to waste-to-energy, metal to scrap and wood as firewood.</p><p>The inspiration for the video arose from Pai’s several city walks.</p>.PM Modi hails efforts to address the problem of sofa waste in Bengaluru. <p>“During my city walks, one of the main problems we saw was the number of sofas, mattresses, commodes and ceramics discarded by the roadside and on footpaths. People do not know how to get rid of them. GBA Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao also agreed this was a major problem,” Pai told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>He is also the Coordinator of Walkaluru, a joint initiative with the GBA.</p><p>The video aimed to encourage other wards to take up similar initiatives.</p><p>“People in Bengaluru often throw away sofas in good shape that can be refurbished. As large sofas are not easy to move, they dispose of them. You will find such sofas and mattresses in many open areas,” he added.</p><p>Pai has also created tutorials on disposing of commodes<br>and ceramics.</p><p>“The BSWML has said this method would be adopted across waste management centres in the city. We can also look at monthly drives to collect such items in bulk,” he said.</p><p><strong>1,000 MT bulky waste cleared</strong></p><p>The Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) collected 1,000 megatonnes of bulky waste — sofas, mattresses, cots, commodes and similar items — from Bengaluru’s streets between October and December 2025, CEO Karee Gowda said.</p><p>“We did not collect from homes, but focused on waste already thrown out. A ground check now shows such waste has drastically reduced. We dismantled bulky waste and sent it to the waste-to-energy plant,” he told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>The BSWML is developing an app to collect such waste directly from households. Initially set to launch in October, it was delayed by three months and will likely launch in the coming week, Gowda added.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed Bengaluru’s efforts to address sofa and mattress waste.</p><p>His latest ‘Mann ki Baat’ address featured waste management efforts by Arun Pai, founder of Bangalore Walks.</p><p>On December 1, Pai posted a reel on social media showing how to dismantle and dispose of sofas and mattresses, in collaboration with Bellandur ward authorities.</p><p>In the video, he showed how two people can demolish a large sofa within 15 minutes, sending foam and coir to waste-to-energy, metal to scrap and wood as firewood.</p><p>The inspiration for the video arose from Pai’s several city walks.</p>.PM Modi hails efforts to address the problem of sofa waste in Bengaluru. <p>“During my city walks, one of the main problems we saw was the number of sofas, mattresses, commodes and ceramics discarded by the roadside and on footpaths. People do not know how to get rid of them. GBA Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao also agreed this was a major problem,” Pai told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>He is also the Coordinator of Walkaluru, a joint initiative with the GBA.</p><p>The video aimed to encourage other wards to take up similar initiatives.</p><p>“People in Bengaluru often throw away sofas in good shape that can be refurbished. As large sofas are not easy to move, they dispose of them. You will find such sofas and mattresses in many open areas,” he added.</p><p>Pai has also created tutorials on disposing of commodes<br>and ceramics.</p><p>“The BSWML has said this method would be adopted across waste management centres in the city. We can also look at monthly drives to collect such items in bulk,” he said.</p><p><strong>1,000 MT bulky waste cleared</strong></p><p>The Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) collected 1,000 megatonnes of bulky waste — sofas, mattresses, cots, commodes and similar items — from Bengaluru’s streets between October and December 2025, CEO Karee Gowda said.</p><p>“We did not collect from homes, but focused on waste already thrown out. A ground check now shows such waste has drastically reduced. We dismantled bulky waste and sent it to the waste-to-energy plant,” he told <em>DH</em>.</p><p>The BSWML is developing an app to collect such waste directly from households. Initially set to launch in October, it was delayed by three months and will likely launch in the coming week, Gowda added.</p>