Plastic alternatives need to be cheap & accessible in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Alternatives to plastic should be accessible and affordable. Also, all plastic ban doesn't mean a ban on every plastic," said Hari Chandana, Zonal Commissioner, West Zone, GHMC at the ICLEI South Asia Stakeholder Consultation Workshop here on Friday. She further added that these alternatives should be upscaled to a commercially profitable level.

The strategy and action plan developed by the ICLEI South Asia is an end-to-end document looking at everything from consumption of plastic and the collection, processing, and scientific disposal of plastic waste.

The workshop also disseminated the learnings from the pilot interventions which were conducted in Naubhat Pahad and Adarsh Nagar of the Birla Mandir area. Srinivas Reddy, Zonal Commissioner South Zone, GHMC, highlighted that "There is a critical challenge when it comes to addressing the demand for single-use plastic by street vendors due to lack of affordability of alternatives.

More R&D and industrial innovation is necessary to promote the manufacture of alternatives from small scale units." Along with the Zonal Commissioners from GHMC the workshop was addressed by various delegates like Sikta Patnaik, Additional Commissioner, UC&D Section, GHMC, Dr Prema kumara Jagath Dickella Gamaralalage, Programme Manager, IGES, and Dr Yoichi Kodera, expert from Japan along with AIP. Representatives from TAPMA, RAMKY, TSPCB, CII, WWF, Water Aid, Godrej, ITC-WOW, and CEED were some of the stakeholders present.