– Donates 3,200 steel cutlery sets to Mahalunge, Ingale and Bhamboli villages near Chakan

– Over 10,500 households from both villages are expected to benefit from the cutlery that is available for use during community events

Mumbai, March 2023 – India’s largest industrial and logistics real estate developer , IndoSpace, has launched cutlery banks as a part of their zero waste management initiative. . This initiative involves the establishment of reusable Cutlery Banks in the Gram Panchayats of Mahalunge Ingale and Bhamboli villages, located in Pune’s Chakan industrial area. In line with recent government regulations against single-use plastic, this plan represents IndoSpace’s commitment to minimize waste generation resulting from the community events.

Single-use plastic cutlery is commonly used during events and subsequently disposed of, contributing to the growing landfill crisis. This can have several negative impacts on the environment, such as potential contamination of groundwater and soil, leading to adverse health effects. The Cutlery Bank initiative aims to reduce waste generated during community events by replacing single-use plastic items with reusable steel cutlery. Stainless steel cutlery can be reused for many years before replacement is necessary, and even then, it can be melted and molded into new steel items. Encouraging the use of reusable cutlery not only supports the principles of a circular economy but also aligns with the organization’s goal of raising awareness about the harmful effects of single-use plastics and disposable waste.

Rajesh Jaggi, Vice Chairman – Real Estate, Everstone Group, said, “As a company, we are dedicated to practicing and promoting sustainable waste management, which is a core focus area for our CSR activities. The cutlery bank initiative marks a significant step in our sustainable waste management project being run at Chakan over the last 2.5 years. We hope that this initiative will serve as a model for other communities and villages to adopt sustainable practices and promote zero-waste events. We believe that this launch will create acknowledgement towards today’s pressing issues and help generate well-adapted solutions for the future.’’

The Gram Panchayat offices, which are run by the temple staff of the villages, will be responsible for storing the cutlery. To ensure that the cutlery is put to good use, it will be utilized for all village events. The villagers will receive the utensils from the bank for free, as part of an effort to increase awareness about the significance of adopting a sustainable lifestyle. Additionally, they will be encouraged to make donations to the Gram Panchayat. In addition to bringing about a behavioral change, this initiative will work towards reducing almost 1 tonne of plastic waste from events held in both villages. As part of the campaign, 1200 cutlery sets were donated to the Gram Panchayat in Bambholi and 2000 in Mahalunge Ingale. IndoSpace continues to be a torchbearer of community building and sustainability through its environmentally conscious decisions.