{
  "id": 4888192,
  "title": "Mumbai Ganpati Procession Waste Turned Into Footwear For Tribal Children Through BMC Recycling Initiative",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/mumbai-ganpati-procession-waste-turned-into-footwear-for-tribal",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-01T15:28:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/mumbai-ganpati-procession-waste-turned-into-footwear-for-tribal-children-through-bmc-recycling-initiative"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Mumbai's Ganpati idol arrival processions pose a challenge in the form of discarded footwear, but the city's recycling initiative is turning this issue into an opportunity. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has implemented a program to collect and recycle footwear waste generated during the processions. This year, thousands of slippers, sandals, shoes, and boots have been collected from Lalbaug, Parel, and Chinchpokli areas following the grand events.\n\nInstead of sending the footwear to landfill sites, the civic authorities have entrusted it to the Green Sole Foundation, a charitable organization. The collected footwear will be processed at the Green Sole Foundation's factory in Bhiwandi, where the soles and other usable materials will be recovered and repurposed to create new footwear. The newly manufactured footwear will then be distributed free of cost to tribal communities and underprivileged students across Maharashtra, particularly in rural Zilla Parishad schools, with support from corporate CSR funds.\n\nThis innovative recycling initiative aims to benefit tribal communities and economically disadvantaged children while also reducing the BMC's expenditure on transporting solid waste to dumping grounds. By recycling discarded footwear, the BMC will also contribute to environmental protection by minimizing waste reaching landfill sites. The initiative is set to continue for at least the next decade, as the Green Sole Foundation has been working for the past ten years to convert discarded footwear into durable new footwear, producing at least one lakh pairs annually.",
  "summary": "Mumbai: Footwear discarded or lost during the massive Ganpati idol arrival processions in the Lalbaug–Parel–Chinchpokli area will no longer simply end up as waste. In a unique recycling initiative, thousands of slippers, sandals, shoes and boots collected after the processions will be recycled and converted into footwear for tribal communities and underprivileged students across Maharashtra. BMC…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}