Recycle plastic bottle, get gift coupons from next week

According to a Chennai Corporation official, the reverse vending machine was donated to the civic body by Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) under the corporate social responsibility initiative.

“The machine will accept plastic water bottles and will give gift coupons in return,” the official said.

However, the official added that the machine is yet to be installed and kept on the premises of Ripon Building for installation. The civic body had tested the machine two days ago and the machine would come into operation next week after the installation.

Apart from plastic bottles, the reverse vending machine would also accept aluminium boxes. “The plastic water bottles collected by the machine will be sent to recycling,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the civic body had seized 306 tonnes of banned plastic items from city shops from January 1 to September 30. The officials had raided more than 2.95 shops and collected a penalty of around Rs 63.14 lakh.