Nestlé India celebrates five years of Project Hilldaari ~Over 28,000 metric ton waste diverted from landfills through the project~
Project Hilldaari is a Nestlé India initiative in partnership with PLAN Foundation and Stree Mukti Sangathana and technical partner Recity India Pvt Ltd. Over the last five years, project Hilldaari has successfully developed inclusive and resilient models for waste management in select tourist cities of India. The project is currently operational in Ponda, Mussoorie, Mahabaleshwar, Munnar, Dalhousie, Darjeeling and Palampur
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé India said, “Five years ago we embarked upon an important journey with Project Hilldaari by bringing about positive change through collective action and adopting sustainable waste management models. Through a multi-stakeholder approach, we are successfully implementing this project across 7 tourist destinations and the project has grown from strength to strength. I would like to congratulate all our partners, for making our vision a reality.”
Upon reaching the milestone of five years for Project Hilldaari, Ms. Jyoti Mhapsekar, President, Stree Mukti Sanghatana said, “The last five years of Project Hilldaari have been extremely fulfilling for the team, where we conducted some meaningful work such as professionalization of the waste workers community. We take pride in the way we have been able to raise awareness across stakeholders. We would continue to collaborate and positively impact the ecosystem in these cities.”
Meha Lahiri Co-founder, COO and CFO, Recity Network India expressed her elation on the milestone and said, “Recity Network India has been working towards giving rise to a circular economy of plastics and Hilldaari has been one of the shining examples of projects aiding this cause. We are extremely happy with the progress we have made with Project Hilldaari and would continue to put continued efforts to take this cause further.”
Project Hilldaari in its existing locations across India has diverted more than 28,000 MT of waste from landfill through source segregation. 80% of source segregation has been achieved across more than 20,000 residential and commercial waste collection points.
Hilldaari believes that every member of the society can contribute towards making a positive change. These partnerships invoke a sense of solidarity and collective spirit among citizens. The initiative is progressively working towards professionalizing waste workers towards segregation of waste at source through a multi-collaborative approach with municipal councils, citizens, contractors, waste workers and influencers. Through Project Hilldaari over 560 waste workers have trained to become a part of behaviour change interventions. The project has also provided them with occupational ID, benefits such as health insurance, protective gear necessary for their work and other such benefits.