Patna: Nidan, an NGO here, has joined hands with IndiGo to recycle waste from the private airline into items people can use daily.

Seat covers and carpets on the plane would be transformed into bags, wallets and folders with the help of women artisans in Patna and Delhi.

Nidan programme head Sangeeta Singh confirmed to The Telegraph that the initiative is aimed at not only addressing the bulk of waste generated but also creating employment opportunities for women artisans and street vendors.

"The seat covers and crew uniforms are regularly replaced by the airlines, and these end up at the landfill. With this initiative, the artisans will create useful daily-use products and then the street vendors, a part of the National Association of Street Vendors of India network, will sell them," Sangeeta said.

Nidan's executive director Arvind Singh signed the memorandum of understanding with IndiGo's director for corporate social responsibility, Raju Sharma, at New Delhi in March. Training for the recycling programme started in Patna from Saturday.

Sangeeta said: "The airline crew is putting the waste generated from flights in baskets at the airline's airport kiosks. Upon collection from there, the waste is being transported to Delhi from where we are collecting it. We have made two centres - one in Delhi and another in Patna, where the artisans will recycle the products. The carpets are being worked on in Delhi, and the rest, including plane seat covers and crew uniforms, are being sent to Patna.

"There are women artisans in Delhi who know how to make foot mats from the carpets. Artisans in Patna are being trained to create bags, folders, hangers and wallets from the waste sent here. We started the training on Saturday - we have hired an expert who will provide 67 days' training."

IndiGo will hand over the discarded products to Nidan monthly. "Right now, we have no idea about how much waste is generated by the airline. To start off the programme, IndiGo has handed us at least 400 cover seats and 80 carpets, but soon they will hand over all the waste material every month. Our ultimate plan is to recycle all of it as useful products and market it through the Swachhdhara programme (a waste management programme of Nidan). The artisans will receive a fixed wage," added Sangeeta.

The end products are expected to be sold from the end of next month.

Meena Devi, who is among the women artisans being trained for the recycling project, said: "I hope this initiative will help us generate a decent income. Though I have never been on a flight, I already feel on cloud nine just by association with this programme."