The students' initiative coincides with the town's residents protest against industrial pollution caused by the Sterlite Copper Smelter Plant
School students of the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu have started a unique initiative. They are collecting plastic wrappers of edible items and sending them back to the manufacturers to stress the need for eco-friendly packaging.
Students of various schools in Thoothukudi have collected 1.64 lakh wrappers of different products and sent them to the concerned manufacturers as a part of the initiative of the Thoothukudi corporation. Out of the 1.64 lakh wrappers returned, around 82,940 were from leading food product manufacturer Britannia, followed by ITC at 30,005, and wafer-maker Nabati at 26,918.
The students' initiative coincides with the town's residents protest against industrial pollution caused by the Sterlite Copper Smelter Plant.
The consignment of plastic wrappers were sent to the manufacturers by post with a cover letter from the students and the corporation commissioner.
In their letter dated December 5, the students wrote, "We are happy with the taste and quality of your products. But we are unhappy with the packaging that they come in — which is made of plastic. We want to ensure a safe environment for our future generations and minimise our plastic footprint. We have decided to collect used plastic wrappers of your products and send them back to you for safe disposal."
Dr Alby John Varghese, commissioner and special officer, Thoothukudi corporation, said that Thoothukudi Municipal Corporation was the first urban local body to invoke extended producer responsibility in the plastic management rules.
In his letter dated December 5 to the companies, he noted that producers, importers, and brand owners were wholly responsible for collecting plastic waste left by their products, as per Section 9 of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
"As the urban local body, we are entrusted with implementing the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. We request you to prepare an action plan for collecting used wrappers of your products and implement the same within a period of two months from the receipt of this letter," he wrote.
He added that the students of the schools have informed that they would continue collecting wrappers and returning them to the concerned brands until the companies came out with an action plan to collect the same.
The manufacturers were asked to send a demand draft of Rs 500 to the commissioner of Thoothukudi Corporation for the postage charges.
To Be Continued
The students of the schools have informed that they will continue collecting wrappers and returning them to the manufacturers until the companies came out with an action plan to do the same.
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