Public participation and awareness among masses is the key to handling plastic waste, which has become a threat to the ecology, said key speakers at a seminar organised by the Uttar Pradesh government and the industrial body at Radisson Hotel in Noida’s Sector 18 on Monday
Public participation and awareness among masses is the key to handling plastic waste, which has become a threat to the ecology, said key speakers at a seminar organised by the Uttar Pradesh government and the industrial body at Radisson Hotel in Noida’s Sector 18 on Monday.
The department of environment, forest and climate change of the Uttar Pradesh government in association with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organised a seminar on the ‘Policy and governance perspective for transforming the plastic economy’.
The session was inaugurated by Justice Sudhir Agarwal, member (judicial) of National Green Tribunal, and chaired by additional chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh government Manoj Singh and co-chaired by executive director of National Mission for Clean Ganga DP Mathuria. The key speakers said that “plastic waste can be treated and handled scientifically only after all stakeholders come forward for the purpose”.
“We will have to restore the autonomy to our villages where plastic was not in use traditionally earlier. But now, we have realised that plastic is slowly making its way into villages, which is not a good sign. We need to work together so that the old village life, where plastic was not in use, can be encouraged. We need to use alternatives of plastic material such as clay made glass,” said Justice Agarwal, adding that such seminars should be organised in rural areas where awareness needs to be generated among masses.
“A plastic product takes 1 million years to merge with the soil. Therefore, the time is to spread awareness in all sections of the society, particularly in rural areas,” Agarwal added.
Key speakers deliberated on the need that state and central government bodies, and the private sector should work together to discourage the use of plastic. “The governments, both at the state level and the central level, are coming up with policies, which will help in handling of plastic waste properly. But the need is that everyone takes part in this campaign,” said Mathuria.
