United Nations: Udit Singhal, an 18-year-old boy from India has been named by the United Nations (UN) to the 2020 cohort of young leaders for the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs). It is the highest profile recognition opportunity at the world body for youngsters who are leading efforts to combat the world’s most pressing issues. Udit Singhal is the founder of ‘Glass2Sand’. It is a zero-waste ecosystem that addresses the growing menace of glass waste in Delhi.
Through the initiative, empty glass bottles are prevented from being dumped into landfills, where they won’t decompose for a million years, and are crushed into commercially valuable sand, the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth said in a statement Friday.
“As a Young Leader for the SDGs, I will be an active agent of change. I hope to be able to encourage communities to embrace a better civic sense to create sustainable living spaces — like when mountain-high landfills are detonated,” Singhal said in the statement.
According to Singhal’s profile on his website, the student at ‘The British School’ in New Delhi conceived the ‘Glass2Sand’ project in late 2018. At that time collection of bottles had become unviable for waste collectors due to dropping demand, because large storage spaces were needed and the transport costs were high.
Empty glass bottles were not segregated anymore and started to go for dumping in the landfills, the ‘Glass2Sand’ website said. It added that Singhal’s initiative has stopped over 8,000 bottles from being dumped in landfills and produced 4,815 kilograms of high-grade silica sand so far.
The Young Leaders for the SDGs initiative is organised on a biennial basis by the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth. It is the office’s highest profile recognition opportunity for young people.
“As the UN marks its 75th anniversary during unprecedented times, the 2020 Young Leaders for the SDGs are a clear example of how young people are leading the way in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future for all,” the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth Jayathma Wickramanayake said.
The young leaders – between the ages of 18 and 29 years old – represent the diverse voices of young people from every region of the world. They are collectively responsible for activating millions of young people in support of the SDGs.
The 2020 Class of 17 Young Leaders includes representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Ireland, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Senegal, Turkey, Uganda and the United States.