The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation will soon put up 10 PET bottle crushing machines at major junctions in the corporation limits as part of its plastic waste management efforts.
PET bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate and can be recycled to manufacture new bottles. The initiative to install the bottle crushing machines will thus go a long way towards recycling plastic waste generated in the city, GVMC officials said, adding that they will also embark on awareness campaigns highlighting the ban on single-use plastic.
Additional Commissioner V. Sanyasi Rao said that under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), 10 bottle crushing machines will be provided by HPCL to GVMC. Each machine will cost ₹1 lakh, he said.
“The machines will be put up at major junctions having high footfalls like Beach Road, RTC Complex, Jagadamba Junction and Gajuwaka. All people have to do is drop their plastic bottles in it and the machine will take care of the rest. The scrap will be handed over to NGOs or companies that recycle the waste,” he said.
A few NGOs are working on recycling plastic waste and a PSU in Parawada has a unit, he said.
‘Waste to artefacts’
GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana said that to combat plastic pollution in the city, apart from creating awareness, collecting wastes from dry resource centres and penalising shopkeepers found using the banned plastic, the corporation is also coming up with various activities.
She said that artworks made of plastic, like the giant fish that was erected on Beach Road, would be put up at various parts of the city.
“A few junctions are being identified where such ‘waste to artefacts’ will be arranged soon under GVMC limits,” she told The Hindu.
Ms. Srijana added that ‘plastic parlours’ concept is also being received well and they will be increased in the city. Denizens can get products or services by exchanging plastic waste at these parlours.
The civic body is also collecting fines from shopkeepers who are using single-use plastic by conducting special drives.
