Vijayawada: Plastic flex banners to be banned from Jan 26
Special Chief Secretary (Environment & Forest) Neerabh Kumar Prasad inaugurating an expo on ‘Alternatives to Plastic Flexies’ at Sri Sheshasai Kalyana Vedika in Vijayawada on Wednesday
Vijayawada: Special Chief Secretary of Environment, Forest, Science and Technology Neerabh Kumar Prasad made it clear that the State government was going to implement a ban on plastic flex banners from January 26 next year.
He further said that the government postponed its decision to impose a ban of flexis for 3 months though it was earlier proposed to implement the ban from November 1st. This was to facilitate printers to choose suitable alternatives.
Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) organised an expo-cum-workshop on 'Alternatives to Plastic Flexis' at Sesha Sai Kalyana Mandapam in Vijayawada on Wednesday. Printing machine vendors, cotton banner material sellers, eco-friendly and biodegradable material suppliers who came from across the country participated in the workshop.
Mainly, they were from Chennai, Coimbatore, Surat, Ahmedabad and Kerala. Several flex banner printers from across the State also participated in the event. Earlier, Neerabh Kumar visited the stalls along with APPCB member secretary Pravin Kumar and APPCB joint chief engineer Siva Reddy.
Addressing the gathering, he assured that the government was ready to give immense support which was needed for printers for modification or changing of the existing printing machines. He clarified that the government would either provide loan to enable printers to buy printing machine or introduce subsidy schemes.
The government has already been enforcing a ban on single use plastic in the State effectively, he added.
"Plastic is a very big issue. The disposal of plastic waste has been a big concern to the government. One of the used and thrown items are plastic banners that are not recycled. Due to this, pollution has been increasing. We need to control this. We are not against printing and display. These plastic materials are received from China heavily. We are helping other countries rather than our country in terms of economic issues. We need to choose alternatives," he informed.
The Special Chief Secretary asserted that the government would help the printers in terms of machine modifications and materials. APPCB joint chief engineer Siva Reddy said that there were over 1,300 flex printers in the State and all of them would be supported by the government.