Union Minister Kiren Rijiju with plogging enthusiasts at JLN stadium in Delhi on Thursday.

News18.com

Updated on: December 5, 2019, 1:14 PM IST

December 5, 2019, 1:14 PM IST FOLLOW US ON: Facebook Twitter Instagram

Over 2.7 tonnes of littered plastic waste was collected during a 50-city plogging run that started in Kochi on September 5 and culminated in Delhi on Thursday.

‘Run To Make India Litter Free’ was organised by R|Elan™, the next generation fabrics from Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), with India’s first plogger Ripu Daman to drive the common goal of inculcating habit of enhancing fitness at the same time keeping the environment clean.


Plogging is an exercise that combines jogging with picking up litter. The run, covering over a thousand kilometres and made pit-stops in key cities of Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

The grand finale was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi and was also attended by union minister Kiren Rijiju.


Speaking on the initiative, Daman, said: “It’s a dream run. In a true sense. “R|Elan™ Run To Make India Litter Free” is the biggest catalyst in making huge inroads in achieving my dream of seeing India litter free a reality. We have covered 50 cities and 1000 KM across India and spread the word of providing utmost importance to clean environment and healthy lifestyle among thousands of enthusiasts.”

Daman said he was proud that the effort was recognised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sports Authority of India.


“Though the run is over now but we have passed on the baton to thousands of ambassadors across the country who will continue the good work of plogging and spreading the awareness about cleanliness and healthy lifestyle," he added.

RIL, manufacturer of R|Elan™ GreenGold fibres, made from recycling post-consumer PET bottles and the greenest fibres in the world, collected the plastics from the ploggers and sent it for recycling.

RIL's post-consumer PET bottle recycling facility at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh, recycles 2.25 billion PET bottles every year and converts it into GreenGold fibres, one of the greenest fibres in the world.

Commenting on today's launch of R|Elan Run To Make India Litter Free' initiative, Gunjan Sharma, CMO - Polyester Business, RIL, said: "We are overwhelmed with the grand response that this plogging run has received across the country. It has truly helped achieving our moto of spreading awareness about sustainability and circularity and inculcating healthy lifestyle habits among the citizens. We will make performance enhancement apparels from R|Elan fabrics made out of the collected PET bottles through this initiative."

(Disclaimer: News18.com is a part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited)