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Int’l Plastic Bag Free Day: ‘RACE’ concludes with a conclave on plastic waste management
The campaign was launched by the state government’s environment, forest and climate change and urban development department in collaboration with GIZ India.
RACE, the five-day special campaign to create awareness to rid the state of single-use plastic, concluded with a conclave on plastic waste management at the Lucknow’s Indira Gandhi Pratisthaan (IGP) on Sunday.
The concluding day of RACE coincided with International Plastic Bag Free day that is observed on July 3.
The campaign was launched by the state government’s environment, forest and climate change and urban development department in collaboration with GIZ India.
RACE stands for reduction, awareness, circular solutions and mass engagement.
In his video message, the chief minister Yogi Adityanath, spoke of threat that single-use plastic poses to the environment.
“The waste generated due to single-use plastic is not only harmful to animals but humans as well as it tends to affect the entire ecosystem. Hence, the RACE campaign and the conclave is an initiative to spread the message among the masses. At the conclave plastic substitutes were exhibited which we can adopt in our daily life,” he said.
“Mother Nature should be our source of inspiration for the 3Rs - reduce, recycle and reuse. The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Water bodies evaporate, form clouds, and then rain. Similarly, we should recycle and reuse,” said urban development minister Arvind Kumar Sharma, the chief guest at the conclave. He praised homemakers’ management skills.
He said of the 3Rs ,reduction is most crucial. “If we reduce plastic use there will be no need to recycle and reuse it,” he said.
“Thousands of stray cattle have died due to consumption of toxic polymers. I urge everyone to refrain from using it and to assist in enforcing the single-use plastic ban. Cleaning up waste is everyone’s responsibility,” he added.
“I’m glad that with the help of the FORCE campaign initiative, 5000 tons of waste was collected. Because it is not biodegradable and takes 500 years to break down, it is more hazardous than the benefits it provides. It also depletes soil fertility and pollutes water. If we make efforts together instead of years, it will take just few months to clean up. I am relieved to see young minds finding solutions to such problems with their creative ideas,” he said.
Three best municipal entities were felicitated for their work. Lucknow came first, Kanpur was second while Ghaziabad and Agra stood joint third.
Manoj Singh, additional chief secretary, environment, forest and climate change department, Stephan Grabherr, Chargé d’affaires, embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, New Delhi, Amrit Abhijat, principal secretary, urban development department were among those present.
