Plastic waste dumped in a garbage bin in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Ashwinee Pati

The civic body has initiated a process to install a first-of-its-kind reverse vending machines, where anyone can dump used plastic bottles, in the city.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation will install three such machines in the first phase, and once the plan succeeds, the installation of such machines will increase in later phases. The corporation will spend Rs 45.50 lakh for the first phase installation, which would take place in the last week of October.

“The reverse vending machines will be a milestone project for the city. It will help to manage the plastic waste. We have floated the tender to get a bidder for the project. We have mentioned certain criteria for the machines,” said the civic body’s deputy commissioner Srimanta Mishra.

According to the plan, a user will only have to take the used pet bottle and feed the same to the machines, following which the user will be prompted to provide his or her mobile number. The machine will then calculate the bottle and send reward coupons to the user instantly.

The reward coupons will be utilised at several shopping centres in various parts of the city. Sources said each machine would have the capacity to compress or shred as many as 3,000 pet bottles a day.

It will be capable to receive bottles of sizes from 250ml to 2,500ml.

“We have specifically mentioned in the tender document that the machines should remain user friendly and mobile in nature. We have not yet decided on the places to install the machines, but it will be put at the prominent spots for sure,” said Mishra.

Authorities are going to impose a ban on single use plastic, carry bag and other such materials from October 2. “It is going to be a major step in the city and a daunting challenge for the civic body official,” said Nayapalli resident Satyam Hota.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they were making all-round efforts to sensitise citizens on the bad impact of plastic waste on the environment. “We are going to ban the use of any kind of plastic in our office too. Citizens are requested to follow the suit,” said Jena.

The Bhubaneswar Development Authority has already ban plastic at its markets and parks from September and is also sensitising citizens about the ill effects of the plastic waste.

The development authority has also planned to install similar reverse vending machines at its parks.

The development body has also decided to cancel the licence of trading in its market complexes, if a trader found violating the “no plastic” directive across the city.

“We are implementing the ban and going quite well with it. We will take the help of the civic body in other initiatives,” said an official.