New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wore a blue sleeveless jacket made of material recycled from plastic bottles.
The Prime Minister was spotted wearing the jacket in Parliament in the morning.
The jacket was presented to Modi by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) during India Energy Week in Bengaluru on Monday.
The IOCL will recycle 100 million PET bottles annually to make fabric, in a push to decarbonise the economy.
The process of making fabric from discarded bottles involves washing, drying, and crushing of collected PET bottles into small chips.
In the Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman provided an outlay of Rs 350 billion to achieve energy transition and net zero objectives and listed green growth among seven priorities of the government.
Jackets for public in three months
The jacket made with recycled plastic bottles will be available in major cities within three months, said Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Chairman, SM Vaidya, on the sidelines of the ongoing India Energy Week 2023 in Bengaluru.
Under the ‘Unbottled’ initiative of Indian Oil, the Prime Minister on Monday had launched the uniforms made from recycled plastic at the ongoing India Energy Week 2023 in Bengaluru.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, IOCL Chairman said that within three months jackets made with recycled plastic waste bottles will be available to all.
People will be able to buy the jacket at the retail outlets of oil marketing companies (OMC) such as IOCL, BPCL and HPCL.
Vaidya said that recycled products will not be limited to just oil marketing companies or army personnels.
Vaidya said that PM Modi has made a big statement by wearing the jacket and that the gesture will raise recycling to a new level.
“We had started the uniform made by used plastic bottle to spread this initiative. OMCs have total 70,000 outlets in India. We want to spread the message of recycling to every household. PM took this initiative to the next level,” Vaidya added.
During the energy week event launch, PM Modi had linked India’s effort for Green Growth, and Energy Transition with Indian values of where the circular economy is part of every Indian’s lifestyle and Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are part of the culture.
He said initiatives of recycling plastic bottles into uniforms will strengthen Mission LiFE.
