Sambhal: The menace of rampant usage of single-use plastic and in turn choking the planet is not new. However, efforts are being made at both micro and macro levels to reduce its use for a sustainable environment.

The district of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh came up with an innovative idea to spread awareness against the single-use plastic. From every block to urban local bodies and district headquarters, a plastic funeral procession is taken out every month. An effigy of collected plastic is prepared and then the bier is cremated symbolically amid the slogans of ill effects of plastics and freedom from single-use plastic.

The brain behind this initiative is the 2014 batch IAS officer and DM of Sambhal, Manish Bansal. 

“These funerals are the endeavours to bring a change in the behaviours of the people. Plastics are so easily available around us that they have become an integral part of our lives. These initiatives can gradually instil a change in the thought process of the people,” says Bansal.

India notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules in August 2021, and the ban was enacted a year later. From July 1, 2022, India banned most single-use plastic items. India generates 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste a year. The government data reveals that India’s per capita plastic waste generation is 3-kg per year. 

The only solution for plastic waste management available is ‘Recycling’ so that it should not reach landfills or water bodies.

Sambhal DM Manish Bansal is steering this Anti-Plastic drive to reach a logical end. They have initiated discussions with some companies that make recycled items from plastic waste. 

The district runs awareness camps in schools and people are penalised also for procuring single-use plastic in bulk. /BI/