VIJAYAWADA: In its objective to encourage the use bags made out of jute and cloth, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to give out appreciation certificates to traders, hoteliers and commercial establishments which have banned circulating single-use plastics in their premises.
In the last week of July, the corporation accompanied with Krishna district officials had launched ‘MANA VIJAYAWADA’, an anti-plastic campaign, to eliminate single-use plastics under its ambit.
The campaign is set to conclude on October 2, marking 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. An award ceremony will be organised on the same day, in which VMC special officer and district collector A Md Imtiaz along with municipal commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh will give away the appreciation certificates.
“Our aim is to transform Vijayawada into a plastic-free city, for which anti-plastic campaign was launched and the public are being sensitised about ill-effects of plastic.
At present, several traders across the city are circulating cloth bags to support the initiative. To take the initiative further, the VMC has sought support of educational institutions, NGOs and philanthropists to contribute as much as they can to replace polythene bags,” said the VMC commissioner.