Air India and team undertake green initiatives

Mumbai: Air India, which is planning to install solar panels on its buildings in Kalina with the help of BMC, has got its employees involved in “green” initiatives.

The national carrier, which is the only airline in the country to set up an environment management cell, produced 500 kg of vermi-compost using 3,000 kg of dry and green waste in its compound. Moving a step ahead, the airline now aims to come up with solar panels by the end of June this year.

An Air India spokesperson said, “The Recycle Green Project is aimed at helping prevent air pollution due to burning of dry waste, reduce CO2 emissions resulting from transportation of waste to dumping grounds, and recycle organic waste. It is 100 per cent natural and free from chemicals and will result in a healthier atmosphere.”

Air India launched its “Recycle Green Project” on Thursday after it joined hands with BMC to convert waste (scrapped material from its own premises to reduce costs) into organic manure using Vermiculture, which is an alternative for disposal of green waste.

The team in March 2016 visited the BMC office in Andheri to gather information about setting up Vermiculture units in Air India’s Kalina premises after which groundwork for fabrication of crates started. Four units were commissioned and over a year, recycling of 3,000 kg dry green waste resulted in production of 500 kg of organic manure. Airline officials said this would be used for tree plantation and gardening.