Army installs Tetra Pak compaction unit

GANGTOK, 12 Aug: General Officer Commandant [GOC], Trishakti Corps, GS Chandel, inaugurated a Tetra Pak Waste Compaction machine here at the New Cantonment Military Station, Tadong, today. This is for the first such unit in the North-East Region and has been undertaken as a pilot project with aid and technical expertise from Tetra Pak India Pvt Ltd, it is informed.
The plant cost around Rs. 3.2 lakh to install and compacts empty TPM cartons into pellets which can then be cost-effectively transported to a recycling plant at Khatima in Uttarakhand. The Tetra Pak Cartons are thereafter fully recycled into paper, polythene and aluminum by the factory, it is informed.
On its part, the Black Cat Division has provided the infrastructure for installing the plant and has also put in place arrangements to collect empty TPM cartons from its units deployed in Sikkim, operating the plant and transporting the compacted empty TPM cartons to the recycling plant at Khatima.
Army personel deployed in remote areas are supplied with Tetra Pak Milk [TPM] - annually about four and a half lakh TPM cartons are getting accumulated in these areas, it is informed. Despite efforts by the Army, these TPM cartons are choking the water bodies, polluting the soil and degrading the ecology.
Addressing the function, LT. Gen. Chandel appreciated the initiative taken by the army.