The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday, August 26, banned the use of vinyl banners across the state, as part of the drive against plastic. Instead, cloth banners should be used to protect the environment, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said. The Chief Minister launched a massive beach cleaning programme in Visakhapatnam in partnership with US-based non-profit Parley for the Oceans. "Our endeavour is to make Andhra Pradesh plastic-free by 2027. Ban on vinyl banners is the first step in that direction," the Chief Minister said. Though expensive, he suggested the use of cloth banners.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said the ban on plastic use in temple-town Tirumala-Tirupati was yielding good results as people shifted to the use of cloth bags. The state government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Parley for the Oceans and Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet for an action programme towards environment conservation. Parleys for Oceans spearheaded the beach cleaning drive and cleaned up 72 tonnes of plastic waste on a 23-km stretch along the Bay of Bengal from Visakhapatnam to Bhimili.

CM Jagan said that about 22 thousand people participated in the beach cleaning programme, touted to be the largest such initiative in the world, and collected 76 tonnes of plastic in around 40 areas. He also said that the government aimed to make the state plastic-free by 2027. Noting that Andhra Pradesh has the second longest coastline in India at around 975 km, he called for efforts to keep the ocean free of plastic. 

He also spoke about the Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) scheme launched in the state earlier in October 2021 under which more than 4,000 new garbage collection vehicles were deployed in various urban and rural local bodies. He claimed that due to the scheme, garbage collection in villages had increased from 22% to 62%. “We are taking steps towards 100% garbage collection,” Jagan said.