G20 meeting in Indore to be `zero waste' event

Indore: The three-day meeting of the G20 Employment Working Group which began in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday is going to be a `zero waste' event, with plastic bottles not allowed and writing pads of reusable paper being used.

Indore, notably, has been ranked as India's cleanest city in the national cleanliness surveys conducted by the Union government for the last six years.

The G20 meeting is aimed at finding solutions to the current global challenges in the areas of labour, employment and social security to workers.

Signboards have been put up at the meeting venue declaring it to be a "completely zero waste event".

An official of the Indore Municipal Corporation said that to convert the G20 meeting into a zero waste event, they relied on the same `3R' (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) concept which has made Indore the cleanest city in the country.

Instead of plastic bottles, delegates have been provided with glass bottles at the meeting venue as well as in their hotel rooms.

Food and other wet waste left at the meeting venue would be used to make compost on the spot in a mobile compost van.

Efforts have been made to make maximum use of environment-friendly and reusable materials, said an official. The fourth and final meeting of the Employment Working Group will continue for two days.

There will be a meeting of the G20 group countries under the chairmanship of India's labour and employment minister Bhupender Yadav and his counterparts on Thursday and Friday.

As many as 165 guests, including representatives from 20 nations and nine invited countries of G20 and top officials of global organisations of labour, employment and social security will be participating in different sessions.