New Delhi: The ‘Plastic Lao – Mask Pao’ campaign is launched at Charkha Museum in Connaught Place on 1 st December 2020, in partnership with New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Citizen can come and deposit their plastic waste in exchange of masks.
The campaign launch was inaugurated by Mr. Vijay Kumar Dev, Chief Secretary, Delhi in the presence of Sh. Dharmendra, Chairperson, NDMC, Dr. B.M. Mishra, Secretary, NDMC and Mr. Prabhjot Sodhi, Head-Circular Economy, UNDP.
Shri Dev applauded the initiative of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) as a unique campaign to encourage the covid appropriate behaviour and also to curb pollution simultaneously. The Chief Secretary further highlighted the need of wearing mask, hand sanitization and social distancing to safeguard the public from covid infections. He also emphasized to be cautious while organizing/attending marriage functions.
The objective of the campaign is to emphasise on use of Masks to avoid Covid-19 and that plastics have value, which we need to recover and recycle into useful products. The campaign also highlights the role of the public in the waste value chain, to move towards a responsibility driven society by encouraging segregation of plastic waste.
As part of the campaign, a mini collection centre has been set up in the premises of Charkha Museum, Connaught Place to promote responsible use of plastic and its disposal. The visitors are encouraged to bring waste plastic products and exchange the same for reusable cloth masks, and also take a pledge (#Pledge4Change) to become responsible citizens for sustainable future. All the waste collected, and the types of waste would be recorded to validate the impact of the campaign.
The mini collection centre will be operative on all days from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm with whole range of community engagement activities including participation of schools, colleges and commercial establishments.
The campaign’s goal is to ensure around 5 Tonnes of plastic waste is recovered from our streets by responsibly recycling with better economic and social outcomes for safai sevak and better environmental outcomes for Delhi.
A street play on behavioural change was also enacted by Nukkad Naatak team to set the tone for the launch, followed by the inaugural exchange of plastic waste by safai sevak (waste pickers) who received Mask from the dignitaries.
