Ritika arun vaishali By

Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Amid nationwide attempts to make India plastic-free, a non-profit group from East Godavari has come up with its ‘rice for plastic’ initiative, to make people give up products made of the synthetic material. The group, known as 'Mana Peddapuram', operates from the small town in the district.

“We have two major objectives. One is to motivate people to avoid using items made of plastic. The other is our fight against hunger. ‘Rice for plastic’ helps us with both of our objectives,” said Naresh Pedireddi, who conceptualized the initiative. After completing his MBA in Human Resource, Pedireddi is now a cashew nut trader.

Through the drive, which was launched only a couple of days ago on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, the group collected 350 kg of plastic in the first three days of their campaign. Speaking with TNIE, Pedireddi said, “Before October 2, we announced that whoever brings us plastic items, preferably single-use plastics, will be given an equal quantity of rice.”

The campaign has received an amazing response on the very first day of its launch. “On the first day itself, we collected 200 kg of plastic and distributed 200 kg of rice. One kg of rice cost us Rs 25. Today (on Friday), we collected 150 kg more plastic.”

The group buys rice directly from the mills, as it costs them less. The synthetic materials collected are given to sanitation workers. The civic body, in turn, gives them to the recycling plants, owned by the government and private parties, in and around Peddapuram.

“The nearest recycling unit owned by the government is in Vijayawada. We have requested the government to start one in our town so that it becomes easy for us to recycle,” Pedireddi observed, adding, 350 kg of collected plastic was recycled.

The group is funded by its over 20,000 members, who hail from various parts of the State. “We know that it is a difficult task and a far-sought dream to make the State completely plastic-free. However, after seeing the response from locals seeking help in cleaning up their surroundings and also from those who fund us, I am sure we will be successful. We have also got requests from people from Hyderabad to start similar initiatives there,” explained Peddireddi.

However, the group has decided to make the campaign a weekly-affair as almost all its members are from the working class. “We will continue the campaign, but will conduct the barter-only on Sundays as we need manpower and most of us have offices to attend to and businesses to look after.”