Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO) announced Project 'Rahdhu', a Deposit Refund Scheme which will commence on April 30, in an experimental step towards reducing litter on the streets.
'Rahdhu', which means 'to return', is a pilot project under the 'Smart City' campaign hosted by WAMCO, supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Housing Development Corporation (HDC), Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), Seoul Metropolitan Government and Ooredoo Maldives.
Project 'Rahdhu' proposes a Container Deposit Scheme, where a consumer can return a single-use plastic bottle with a certain sticker to the WAMCO office at reclaimed suburb Hulhumale', at a rate of MVR 1 per bottle.
According to the company, only bottles with the sticker qualify, and such bottles can be purchased from shops near Hulhumale's WAMCO site.
In a new conference held in WAMCO on Monday, Project Coordinator Ahmed Afrah stated that the aim of the project is to provide an incentive to recycle plastic bottles.
The company targets to collect 80 percent from the initial batch of 10,000 bottles with the sticker.
WAMCO further stated that the company spends an approximate amount of MVR 2.5 million every month to pick up litter from the roads. WAMCO's Operation General Manager Ahmed Shafiu stated that this project will somewhat provide a solution for littering issues.
"This [project] will raise awareness in the public. Therefore WAMCO plans to expand the project depending on results yielded by the experimental stages," Shafiu stated.
In the future, WAMCO aims to collect different types of waste for a financial incentive, and stated that such projects will be conducted at a nation-wide scale.
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