Take voluntary measures to tackle plastic pollution: Sharma to Indian industry

Minister of state for environment Mahesh Sharma today asked the Indian industry to take voluntary measures to tackle plastic pollution, calling for collective efforts to effectively deal with the menace.

A thematic knowledge conference on "Plastic Pollution and Management" was held today to mark the beginning of five-day celebration of World Environment Day, 2018 (WED-2018).

It was also announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also take part in the WED-2018 event on June 5.

Speaking at the event today, Sharma stressed that collective efforts were needed to effectively and efficiently deal with the global problem of plastic pollution while emphasising the role of the Indian industry in combating the menace.

He also appealed to the industry to come forward and take voluntary measures to tackle plastic pollution and create awareness for the issue.

Twenty three cities in India have achieved 100 per cent segregation of waste, people attending the session were informed.

Environment secretary C K Mishra also underlined the responsibility of each and every individual in tackling plastic pollution.

It was also highlighted to look for alternatives through technological innovation and creating awareness.

Ambassador, Kingdom of Norway, Nils Ragnar Kamsvag, also highlighed the issue of marine pollution by micro plastics and initiatives taken by Norway to address it.

He said their plastic management strategy is focussed on reducing single use plastics' and reusing or recycling old products, as well as recyclable plastics'.

The EU Ambassador to India, Tomasz Kozlowski, talked about the 'plogging' event carried out by EU member states representatives near India Gate on the morning of June 1. Plogging is a trend which combines jogging and picking up waste.

It was also mentioned that an announcement of a Green Pledge' is being finalised by EU member states during the current WED-21018 programmes for phasing out single use plastics saving energy and resources.

Meanwhile, the first plenary session focused on key initiatives by the Indian industry for managing plastic waste.

During the session, representatives from various industries and academia provided insights into plastic waste management in their respective areas through discussions and presentations.

The second plenary session hosted a special talk by a young student, Aditya Mukherji, volunteer of NGO CHINTAN, who explained the harmful impacts of plastics on the environment and shared his experience and zeal to phase out plastic straws from restaurants and eateries across NCR.

The Third plenary session was coordinated by the EU, which focused on showcasing their commitment towards the environment, emphasising on plastic pollution and its management by sharing their best practices.

First Counsellor, Environment, Energy, Climate Change, Delegation of the EU in India, Henriette Faergemann, provided a brief introduction to EU's plastic strategy.

The EU plastics strategy focusing on transforming the approach of design, its use, production, and recycling, was also shared.

The sessions were attended by a range of participants such as policy makers, industry persons, academia, NGOs, research organations, representatives from EU and other countries.

Many ideas were generated and deliberated during the sessions, which centred on larger contours of possible strategic inputs that will ultimately help the policy makers to scale up such initiatives.