In These Cities People Pay For Bus & Metro Tickets Using Plastic Bottles; Here's How It Works

Plastic products are one of the major contributors to environmental degradation and destruction of animals' natural habitat. However, not all may be lost. Growing awarness about the harmful effects of plastic has led to the development of a concept called 'circular economy'.

The concept entails recycling plastic products for simple services like bus or metro tickets. The Chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra, shared a video which talks about 4 cities that let the public pay for public transport with plastic waste.

When incentives are created for recycling you lay the foundation of a ‘circular economy.’ Which forward thinking Indian cities would take this idea forward? Perhaps @ChouhanShivraj can do it in Indore, India’s cleanest city? Or @ncbn can ensure it happens in Amaravati.. pic.twitter.com/zAMdPf1zdj

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 26, 2018

Beijing allows commuters to pay for the metro ticket with plastic bottles at a special ticket machine. In an Indonesian city, buses accept payment through plastic bottles and not cash. In Surabaya, again in Indonesia, passengers pay with recycling and get two hours of travel. In Istanbul, meanwhile, people can exchange their plastic waste for credit on their metro cards which can be used on different forms of public transport. Sydney has high-tech reverse vending machines where recycling gets you rewards like movie tickets or bus tickets.

Responding to Anand Mahindra's tweet, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that he would certainly consider this ingenious suggestion.

Thank you, Anand ji. While we have plastic bottle recycling machines installed at various places across the state, this indeed is a good idea. I would request @FutureofMP to make a note of this as well for our next meeting. https://t.co/NtJuefzo2I

— ShivrajSingh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) September 26, 2018