Balineni Srinivas Reddy, the Minister for Energy, Forests and Environment, announced the Andhra Pradesh Government is all set to ban single use plastic in the State.
On the 19th of November, Balineni Srinivas Reddy flagged off trucks carrying solid plastic material to an UltraTech Cement plant which was set up by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation to recycle plastic waste.
The recycling event was organised in Ajit Singh Nagar, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, on the 19th of November. During the event, Balineni Srinivas Reddy congratulated the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation for converting plastic waste into energy which could be used by cement companies.
Trucks carrying 30 tonnes of solid plastic waste were sent to the UltraTech Cement plant, which purchased the plastic blocks from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.
Mr. Reddy addressed the public at the event and said, “The State Government was planning (a) total ban on single use plastic by 2022. Though the ban on single use plastic came into force in 2016, it could not be implemented strictly.”
Malladi Vishnu, the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Vijayawada Central, said the municipal bodies would collect 500 metric tonnes of garbage every day and send it to the recycling plant for converting plastic waste into energy.
B.S.S. Prasad, the Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, also agreed to the plan of the Andhra Pradesh Government and said recycling would help reduce coal consumption from 5 % to 15 % in the future.
Andhra Pradesh plans to strictly ban single use plastic from the 22nd of November.
Stay tuned for further updates.
