Eco start-up Mangala Resource Management opens Mulky unit to recycle plastic waste

The Mangala Resource Management Pvt. Ltd., an eco start-up that operates three material recovery facilities (MRFs) in Dakshina Kannada and one in Udupi district for the State government, has commissioned a unit in Mulky to recycle plastic waste into high-quality plastic lumps.

According to Ranjan Bellarpady, executive director of the start-up, the unit commissioned on Saturday recycles discarded low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high molecular (HM) and polypropylene (PP) raffia plastics into lumps. This is the second level of recycling plastic after segregation at the basic level.

The company’s managing director, Dilraj Alva, said the lumps produced by the unit are used by plastic industries to make PVC pipes, plastic chairs and buckets.

The start-up operates the MRFs at Nitte in Karkala taluk of Udupi district, Narikombu in Bantwal taluk, Yedapadavu in Mangaluru taluk and Kedambady in Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada for the respective zilla panchayats. These facilities play a crucial role in sorting dry waste for recycling, thereby reducing landfill waste and promoting resource recovery. The company has been segregating waste plastic materials and sending them in bales to cement factories in north Karnataka.

Mr. Alva said that with the commissioning of the Mulky unit, the company will henceforth send LDPE, HM and PP raffia plastic materials, segregated from dry waste collected from villages to the Mulky unit for making recycled lumps. Hence, these three types of plastic waste will no longer be transported in bale form for further processing, he said.

Stating that making plastic lumps is an added value to the recycling of waste plastic materials, Mr. Bellarpady said: “This initiative further strengthens our rural waste management mission, serving 250 villages, recovering 8,000 tonnes of waste annually and positively impacting nearly one million people across coastal Karnataka.”

The executive director said the start-up segregates 30 varieties of dry waste at the basic level after collecting waste from villages.

Mr. Bellarpady said: “About 45% of the waste collected by the company contains valuable or recyclable materials. The remaining 55% contains non-valuable materials such as slippers, clothes, and multi-layer plastic such as biscuit wrappers. The non-valuable materials are sent to cement factories.”