THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the central government planning to phase out single-use plastic, the city corporation, which has been waging a war against the use of disposable plastic, is going a step further. With the civic body already banning plastic carry bags and having come up with a production unit for cloth bags, it next intends to put eco-friendly reusable containers on the roll and thereby phase out the single-use disposable containers used in packaging.
“A proposal in this regard this has been put forth. The idea is to promote reusable alternatives such as steel containers. These will be used for parcelling food. After use, these containers can then be given by the customer to any restaurant. A facility to sterilise the containers will also be set up,” said a corporation official.
Earlier the corporation had imposed a ban of using single disposables for packaging which was later on put on hold following request from hoteliers seeking time to move to alternatives. “The city corporation is the first corporation in the state to enforce a ban on plastic. Apart from enforcing a ban and providing alternatives, we have also brought in bylaws to keep plastic at bay. The government needs to undertake the next step and prevent the entry of plastic,” he adds.
The civic body had also sent an appeal to the airport authorities seeking discontinuance of single-use plastic. Meanwhile, the airport authorities have maintained that there is already a ban of single-use plastics inside the airport.
“We have enforced a ban on single-use plastics in the airport and air carriers since January. If at all these turn up, they are shredded at the waste management facility we have set up. Alternatives have been used including paper and compostable ones,” says C V Ravindran, airport director, Thiruvananthapuram International airport.
containers
The idea is to promote reusable alternatives such as steel containers. These will be used for parcelling food. After use, these containers can then be given by the customer to any restaurant.