“Awareness Campaign on Single Use Plastics”

The Third regional event under the ‘Awareness Campaign on Single-Use Plastics-2021’ for Eastern and North-Eastern India covering stakeholders from industry, government, citizens group, NGOs and academic institutions was held virtually on 13^th of August 2021. This is in line with the two-month long Awareness Campaign on Single-Use Plastics jointly organized by GIZ, UNEP, FICCI and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India which was launched on the 8^th June 2021 by the Ministry . The awareness campaign consists of four on-line regional events, along with a social media campaign on mitigation of plastic pollution..

Dr. Divya Datt, Programme Management officer UNEP, Dr. Ashok Kumar Ghosh, Chairman Bihar State Pollution board, Dr. Amit Love, Additional Director, Hazardous Substances Management Division, MoEFCC, Government of India, Mr. Harikumar Thingbaijam, Director, Ministry of Municipal Administration, Housing & Urban Development (MAHUD), Manipur, Mr. Girija Sankar Mallick, ORS, Executive Officer, Angul Municipality, Angul district, Odisha, Mr. Sisira Sahoo, Team Coordinator, Pradan, Ms. Sriyam Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, Hulladek Recycling, West Bengal, Col. Amit Pande, NM, Commanding Officer, Ganga Task Force, Mr. Arbind Singh, Executive Director, Nidan, Ms Parmita Sharma, Co-founder, Akshar Foundation, Assam, Ms. Chaitali Das, Global Chairperson & Managing Trustee, Rakshak Foundation, West Bengal, Ms. Priyadarshinee Shrestha, Secretary , Mr. Roshan Rai, Councillor, Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI), Sikkim, Ms. Jasprit Kaur, GIZ, Mr. B K Nayak, Joint Director, FICCI and officials from various organizations were present during the occasion.

Mr Ashok Kumar Ghosh, Chairman of Bihar State Pollution board highlighted that “Awareness is the key for managing single use plastics. Every citizen of the country should transit from Single-use plastics to other forms of collection system and should start using paper or cloth bags for their daily needs.

Mr. Harikumar Thingbaijam, Director, Ministry of Municipal Administration, Housing & Urban Development (MAHUD), Manipur emphasized on the need to act fast and organise ourselves in a more systematic manner. He further added that, ‘We all have to be responsible on our behalf and should support our government too in their campaign for our own good. This whole issue is critical, and the campaign will be successful if it is a coordinated effort by the government, business, civil society and citizens, so it is imperative that they come together to address this issue.’ 

The panel discussion highlighted the key aspects of tackling plastic waste. The members of the panel discussed the need of awareness amongst the public and emphasized that segregation of waste is crucial for effective waste management. The speakers discussed the central themes of alternatives to plastics; the need of an inclusive approach to plastic’s value chain and responsibility of the producers to manage plastics introduced in the market. This discussion brought forth the experiences of each of the speakers working in the domain of plastic waste management and alternatives to plastics. The need of the hour is to transform the awareness campaign into a people’s campaign at the grass root level and bring systemic change in the society.

The event saw vibrant participation of stakeholders from Industry, Government, citizen’s group, academic institutions, State Governments, CPCB, SPCBs, Urban Local Bodies, and Municipal Commissioners etc. Focal members and experts from the United Nations Environment Programme; GIZ, technical experts, professionals, development partners, academia, civil society organizations, also attended the launch event today across the cities of eastern and north-eastern India.