NIFT roped in to turn waste plastics into bins

According to a Chennai Corporation official, representatives from the national institute had recently met the civic officials and proposed ideas to effectively reuse plastic items.

“One of the proposals is to make garbage bins using such items. The bins will be made in shapes of animals and cartoon characters and placed in beaches and other public places,” the official said. He added that these bins would attract kids’ attention and encourage them to dispose their trash into it.

Apart from the garbage bins, NIFT is also set to create statues using the waste plastic products. The official, however, clarified that the final decision is yet to be taken. “We are also going to look into other options,” he said.

Meanwhile, the civic body had already installed a reverse vending machine to collect plastic water bottles in Ripon Buildings premises.

The Corporation had seized 306 tonnes of banned plastic items from the city shops between January 1 and September 30. Officials had raided more than 2.95 lakh shops and collected a penalty of aroundRs 63.14 lakh.