From cartons to community parks: Mumbai launches citywide recycling relay on World Environment Day 2025

Mumbai, 4 June 2025: To mark World Environment Day, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Rotary Club of Bombay Mid City, and Tetra Pak India have joined forces to launch a citywide sustainability campaign — the Carton Recycling Relay — designed to turn used beverage cartons into durable benches for Mumbai’s public parks.

In its first phase, the initiative aims to collect 2.5 lakh used cartons from across the city, which will be recycled into 25 garden benches to be installed in selected public parks. This collaborative effort brings to life the principles of recycling, the circular economy, and community participation, with citizens at the heart of the transformation.

“This is a brilliant example of how partnerships can bring sustainability into public spaces, and how the public can actively participate in this transformation,” said Jeetendra V. Pardeshi, Superintendent of the Gardens and Tree Office, BMC. “We’re not just recycling — we’re creating something useful and lasting for the community. This initiative represents the kind of smart, sustainable thinking our city needs.”

To kick off the campaign, a set of benches made entirely from recycled cartons was donated to Patwardhan Park, Bandra, a popular green space in Mumbai. The event was attended by Mr. Jeetendra V. Pardeshi, Superintendent of Gardens and Tree Authority, BMC; Mr. Kamlesh Kholiya, Sustainability Manager, Tetra Pak South Asia; Mr. Ajay Mishra, Rotary President; and Ms. Monisha Narke, Founder, RUR Greenlife.

“At Tetra Pak, we believe that sustainability is a shared responsibility,” added Kamlesh Kholiya, Sustainability Manager, Tetra Pak South Asia. “The Carton Recycling Relay turns citizens into changemakers. By transforming used cartons into public assets, we’re fostering circularity and strengthening community engagement.”

A life-size, carton-shaped collection bin will now travel across prominent locations in the city, encouraging schools, housing societies, businesses, and individuals to deposit their used beverage cartons. To make participation easy and accessible, more than 160 drop-off points have already been set up across Mumbai — including 57 Reliance Retail and Sahakari Bhandar stores, as well as over 100 schools, RWAs, churches, institutions, and other locations.

As the city works toward the 2.5 lakh carton target, 22 more benches will be created and donated — transforming waste into symbols of community action and environmental stewardship.

“Sustainability is one of the seven pillars of Rotary’s thrust areas, and we always work on causes related to environmental protection. We have long been collaborating with MCGM and corporates to set up street furniture made from recycled waste to spread awareness. We are happy to see that Tetra Pak has come forward to support the cause and help create awareness. We are glad to serve as a bridge between benefactor and donor,” added Ajay Mishra, President, Rotary.

The initiative is being implemented on-ground by RUR Greenlife, a long-standing Tetra Pak partner known for its work in waste management and citizen-led recycling. Media outreach is being supported by the Free Press Journal.

This campaign is part of a program called ‘Go Green with Tetra Pak’, launched in 2010 by Tetra Pak in collaboration with Reliance Retail and RUR Greenlife. The program encourages Mumbaikars to drop off their used beverage cartons at various collection points across the city. These cartons are then recycled into useful items like desks and garden benches and donated back to society.

Tetra Pak cartons are paper-based, recyclable, and increasingly being recycled through a robust ecosystem nurtured by Tetra Pak over the last 20 years, working closely with various stakeholders such as urban local governments, NGOs, brand owners, academia, and consumers.

A complete list of carton deposit points is available here:
👉 https://www.rur.co.in/csr/tetrapakcollectioncenters/