Vice President calls for mass media campaign on single use plastics
Addressing the students, faculty and staff of the Central Institute of Petrochemical Engineering & Technology (CIPET) in Vijayawada, the Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu called for a mass media campaign to bring behavioural changes in how people dispose of plastic products.
He emphasised that the problem is not with plastics, instead the problem lies in our attitude towards handling of plastics. The Vice President expressed concern about the environmental challenge posed by the durability and longevity of plastics. He stressed the need to follow the best practices of plastics waste management and wanted people to be made aware of the importance of the 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The solution is not to avoid plastics, but to ensure that it is used responsibly and recycled properly.
Citing the example of Swachh Bharat Mission, he called for a similar nationwide campaign to educate people on single use plastics and wanted media, civil society organisations, students and activists to be an integral part of this awareness drive. The Vice President said that people have to understand the deleterious impact of single use plastic on our environment and think about the future of mankind. Maintaining that we are duty bound to leave a clean and green planet for our children, he appealed to everyone to commit to use the single use plastic items responsibly.
He appreciated CIPET for establishing a model Plastics Waste Management Centre at Guwahati, which focuses on offering skill development training programmes in the areas of plastics recycling and waste management.
Shri Naidu highlighted that waste management presents a golden opportunity for our entrepreneurs and mentioned that the plastics recycling market in India is estimated to grow at a rate of 6.5 % to attain a market size of 53.72 billion dollars by the end of 2023.
Highlighting that single-use plastics are being continually discarded to the landfills; littering our landscapes, thereby creating threats for aquatic and marine life. Also, improper littering habits and lack of awareness on Plastics Waste Management has resulted in many environmental hazards. He said that the solution is not to avoid plastic, but to ensure that it is used responsibly and recycled properly.
Hence, the need of the hour is to follow the best practices of plastic waste management. We need to spread awareness about the 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. A mass media campaign is need of the hour to bring behavioural changes in how people dispose of plastic products. People should be taught about the importance of segregation of waste for recycling. Media, civil society organisations, students and activists should be an integral part of this awareness drive.
