'Beat Plastic Pollution' Not Just a Slogan: Dr. Harsh Vardhan

Urging all stakeholders at the national and international level to work towards betterment of environment, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ is not merely a slogan, but India means business about it.

Delivering the inaugural address of the State Environment Ministers Conference in the run-up to World Environment Day in New Delhi on June 4, Dr. Harsh Vardhan pointed out that 25,000-tonnes of plastic waste is generated every day. He asserted that there is no waste that cannot be transformed into wealth, and cited the example of the Kashipur plant, where 10 tonnes of biomass has been converted into 3,000 litres of ethanol every day.

In his address, Minister of State, Dr. Mahesh Sharma expressed concern over the pollution caused due to plastic use in India and how it can create problems for future generations. Advocating the implementation of the Prime Minister’s ‘mantra’ of 6 Rs – Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, Retrieve, Recover, Redesign and remanufacture – to eliminate single use plastics, Dr. Sharma stressed the criticality of a collaborative role of all the stakeholders from the States in dealing with plastic menace.

Mr. Erik Solheim, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) pointed out that efforts are needed not only from the Government’s side, but also from the people. “We need to make the environment a citizen’s issue,” he said.

National Geographic’s plastic wrapper-free magazine (India, US and UK editions) was also released on the occasion. This initiative will save more than 2.5-mn single-use plastic bags every month.