Turning Glass Into Sand

Technical problems if understood well and managed properly can be a solution in disguise. Singhal, an 18-year-old, has proved it. In 2019, he founded the Glass2Sand project as a zero-waste system that turns bottles into economically viable sand. He imported a machine from New Zealand with a special grant from the New Zealand High Commissioner in India and went to work, helped by 65 workers, collecting bottles from across the country as these bottles were not picked up by even rag pickers. It takes five seconds to turn one empty bottle into sand. They have crushed 8,000 kg of bottles into 4,800 kg of high-grade silica sand. This silica sand is commercially viable as it is used in construction, including as lining in furnaces. It is more viable than river sand in making concrete.

Singhal has been named among 17 people in the United Nations 2020 class of Young Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The programme is a flagship initiative that recognizes the efforts of young people in driving action and galvanizing others in support of the UNs 2020 agenda for sustainable development.