Delhi govt to recycle waste generated during Games

The Environment Department of the state government has already identified over 80 schools having paper recycling units to recycle waste papers to be generated from different venues of the event.

A soft drink manufacturer has also been roped in to recycle the plastic water and juice bottles. “Over 80 schools have been given paper recycling machines. These schools will recycle all the paper waste of the sporting event,” Environment Secretary Dharmendra said. Noting that offsetting the carbon footprint of the Games was high on government’s priority, he said a proper mechanism will be put in place to collect the organic as well as inorganic wastes from the Games venues and take them to the recycling plants daily.
“We are taking all possible steps to minimise the carbon footprint of the Commonwealth Games,” Dharmendra said.

The Delhi Government and Organising Committee of the Games have already declared that the event will be the first “Green Games” in the history of sporting events. The department has already taken a series of measures including carrying out large scale afforestation, developing city forests to ensure that the negative environmental impact of the event is minimised.

Officials in the Organising Committee said effective energy and water management systems will be implemented at all the venues and more than 50 per cent of external lighting in them will be powered by solar panels. The environment secretary said Euro IV compliance will be made mandatory for all new vehicles in the city from April next year and ultra low sulphur diesel will be made available to minimise carbon emission.
 Measures in terms of energy efficiency and water conservation have been taken to reduce the carbon emissions from the games-related activities.