Volunteers of Plast Save, a London-based NGO, who visited the district to study the Suchitwa Sagaram project, have extended their support for the initiative that aims to make the ocean plastic-free.
Lauding the project, the volunteers said the effort taken to reduce plastic waste accumulation in the sea is rare and admirable.
“We will provide high-end shredding machines for processing plastic collected as part of the project. Also, we will contribute a portion of the wages of the sanitation workers, if needed,” said the delegation after a meeting with Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma here on Tuesday.
The team is expected to revisit the district in October-November.
Plastic waste
As part of Suchitwa Sagaram, a project implemented in association with the Fisheries and Harbour Engineering departments, Suchitwa Mission, Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH) and Society for Assistance to Fisherwomen (SAF), fishing boats not only abstain from dumping plastic waste in the sea, but also bring back the plastic caught in their nets in nylon bags. The harbours have plastic waste collection points, from where it will be transported to the shredding unit at Neendakara.
The Suchitwa Sagaram had provided 500 kg of plastic granules processed in the unit for the construction of the Keralapuram-Kovilmukku road. The project is well appreciated in various national and international forums.
Ms. Mercykutty Amma explained the project to the delegates, saying that large-scale campaigns would be conducted to spread awareness of keeping the marine environment clean.
She said that very soon arrangements would be made to collect plastic waste from Alappad, Mayyanad, Panmana and Neendakara grama panchayats and Kollam Corporation and process it at the shredding unit.
The team members also visited the plastic segregation and cleaning unit at Shaktikulangara and the shredding unit at Neendakara.
They interacted with labourers in the units. Deputy Director of Fisheries P. Geethakumari and V.K. Lotus, executive engineer, Harbour Engineering Department, were present.
