Geocycle, the in-house waste management arm of ACC and Ambuja Cements is collaborating with Rekart Innovations to remove plastic waste from Jojari riverbed in Pipar city in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan. The first consignment of plastic waste weighing more than 10 tons was recovered recently and sent to Geocycle’s processing facilities in Ambuja and ACC cement plants.

Ambuja Cements and ACC are the two main operating companies of LafargeHolcim in India, and Geocycle is an in-house waste management arm that provides services for industrial, agricultural, municipal and plastic waste.

The river cleaning project expects to remove more than 150 tonne of plastic waste and restore 7,500 cu m of river area. Jojari river, a key tributary of Luni river in Rajasthan and locally known as ‘Desert Ganga’ has become a local dumping ground in recent years. A recent scientific study had revealed that the river had become severely depleted and dangerous to local agriculture and the natural ecosystem causing significant health problems for the local population.

Geocycle is collaborating with Rekart Innovations, an Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR organisation to set up a mechanical sorting machine for the segregation of the waste collected.This plant will treat mixed and untreated waste on the dumpsite and segregate low value plastic and other composite and combustible waste. The recovered waste will be sent to Geocycle's facilities at the Ambuja and ACC cement plants, where it will be pre-processed into a uniform mixture and then treated through co-processing, ensuring full recycling and recovery.

Geocycle had also recently secured the mandate to remove plastic waste from Yamuna river using its innovative ‘bubble curtain’ technology. The Geocycle bubble barrier was installed on the Mantola Canal in the city of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, which carries 40% of Agra's rainwater and wastewater.