Goa Tourism Corporation bans plastic

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) on Saturday announced the elimination of plastic bottles, cups and straws across the state.

The GTDC has banned the use of plastic from its headquarters and its hotels (GTDC Residencies) across the state.

Dayanand Sopte, Chairman of GTDC said, "This decision will go a long way in contributing towards environment protection and in reducing plastic waste which has become a bane in the State. Growing plastic waste is a major concern and it is important to keep our environment plastic-free."

This decision was taken at a recently held GTDC Board meeting, wherein it was decided that water, tea, coffee etc will be served in cups of paper or glass.

Water dispensers, water filters will be installed at the tourism head office and residencies. Water will be served in metal or glass bottles which will be re-fillable.

"We at GTDC have taken on this campaign from the head office first and all our residencies will execute this within the next three months so that we can play a significant role in the endeavour to conserve the environment. This decision of banning use of plastic items will help towards creating an environmentally sustainable tourism sector," said Sopte.

"On achieving this, we will rope in the tourism stakeholders and other partners in the hospitality sector to be part of the large campaign against the use of plastic bottles and plastic items," he added.

Plastic bottles are amongst the major plastic items used in the tourism industry and they alone contribute to over 20 per cent of plastic pollution in the oceans. GTDC's residencies across the state will phase out the use of plastic bottles, plastic cups and straws in the next three months.