Assam Dumps Plastic Dustbins, Switches To Bamboo Bins

New Delhi: If the idea is to reduce plastic waste then why not start with where waste gets dumped? Assam takes a step towards replacing plastic dustbins with a better and environment-friendly alternative, bamboo bins. Taking the beat plastic pollution initiative further the civic body has also asked sanitation workers to place the cotton cloth in the dustbins and strictly avoid using plastic polythenes that are used to prevent garbage from seeping through. Talking about this new initiative, a senior official from Guwahati Municipal Corporation said,

One of the main goals of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is waste management. Keeping that in mind Assam has decided to give up on the practice of using plastic dustbins and instead switch to a more eco-friendly alternative and that is why we have decided to install bamboo bins. Plastic is a non-biodegradable thing, it ends up staying on the planet for some thousands of years and if we continue to use plastic like this then our planet will drown under the plastic waste mess.

Highlighting the importance of this move, the officer added,

With this one practice, we want to motivate people about ‘reuse, recycle’, two of waste management’s most important terms and make them understand why they also should switch to eco-friendly alternatives to plastic.

Also Read: Becoming ODF Isn’t Enough. This Gram Panchayat In Assam’s Dibrugarh District Shows What More is Required

This is not the first time, Assam has taken a lead in plastic waste management, last year, the state decided to construct roads using plastic waste, thereby reducing the load from its landfills. The first-of-its-kind project for the state was launched on the Kahilipara-Dakhingaon Don Bosco Road.

According to the Beat Plastic Pollution study that was released last year on World Environment Day, Assam generates 2.99 lakh kilogram of plastic waste every day. Of this volume, 37,000kg of waste is generated every day in Guwahati alone. To change this grim reality of plastic waste generation, the state has been aggressively taking steps.

Also Read: Guwahati To Tackle Plastic Waste By Making Roads From It

Recently, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has also stated the state’s goal to make Assam plastic-free, he urged people to help them beat plastic pollution, and transform Assam.

Also Read: Plastic Free Zone Markets: Bring Your Own Bag, Says Guwahati Municipal Corporation

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.