Tieedi Permaculture Foundation has joined forces with Tetra Pak, a global leader in food packaging solutions, to launch a structured recycling initiative for used beverage cartons in Darjeeling. This collaboration aims to enhance waste management while empowering informal waste workers through training, formal recognition, and healthcare support.
The initiative will establish a decentralized collection and recycling network, engaging waste workers and community members. Collected aseptic beverage cartons—made primarily of 70% paperboard—will be sent to KhatemaFibres in Uttarakhand for recycling into paper products, secondary packaging, roofing sheets, and composite materials used across industries. Youth from Sonada Degree College will contribute by collecting data on waste pickers, bridging the gap between academic research and real-world waste management.
UtsowPradhan, Founder of Tieedi, highlighted the initiative’s role in recognizing waste workers, while Juhi Gupta, Sustainability Director at Tetra Pak South Asia, emphasized its potential to set a benchmark for decentralized, community-driven recycling efforts.