KOCHI: In a move to eliminate plastic, the Urban Housing Ministry, Government of India, has launched a campaign which is being implemented in three phases. The phases include awareness campaigns, collection and finally processing.
According to Sheila A M, senior environmental engineer, the Urban Housing Department has sent missives regarding the campaign to all the local bodies in the country. “The first phase of the campaign began on September 11 and will be on till October 1. The directive is to carry out awareness campaigns throughout the areas that fall under their jurisdiction,” she said.
Once the awareness campaign is carried out, the second phase will start, she added. “The second phase will start from October 3 and will extend till October 27. During the period, the local bodies have to deploy workers to collect plastic waste from the sources and store them in storage centres,” she said. The local bodies will also have to identify storage spaces, she added. “The workers will have to collect the waste on October 2,” she said.
From October 3 till 27, the collected plastic waste has to be processed, she said. “The plastic waste has to be sent to registered recycling units and converted into granules or oil is extracted. This granules and oil thus extracted are then to be used for tarring roads, as cement fillings and used to generate energy,” she said.