Plans uncorked to curb plastic use in Hyderabad

​Hyderabad: Principal Secretary (Municipal Administration) Arvind Kumar on Friday urged plastic waste generators to own it up as a collective responsibility in helping the government reduce the use of plastic.

Arivind Kumar was speaking at an interactive meeting with various retail agencies and other food outlets in Hyderabad. Admitting that it was impractical and undesirable to impose a blanket ban on the use of plastic, he said the real challenge was to improve the plastic waste management system. He observed that customers would switch to cloth bags if the price of the bag was not too high.

Therefore, the big players in the retail sector should take it as an initiative and work out modalities to bring the cost of cloth bags to a level which was reasonable from the customers’ point of view. The government on its part would also encourage the Self-Help Groups and micro, small and medium enterprises to take up production of cloth bags on a high scale to meet the demand.

The Principal Secretary asked West Zone Commissioner Harichandana to explore the possibility of facilitating a tie-up between waste generators and manufacturers of compost units. He also said field level officers should also be made aware of the plastic waste management rules. Members who took part in the discussion assured the government of their cooperation in making the city less plastic using one. They urged the government to frame guidelines which were easy to follow.