Plastic – Recycle & Re-use

The notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to ban the manufacture and use of metallic pouches and multi-layered plastic packaging under Plastics (Manufacture, Usage and Waste Management) Rules, 2009 has drawn strong response from the plastic industry.
But what we really need is a plan of action!

Plastics exists to fulfill a need, it forms much of the packaging for our food and drink. The versatility, flexibility, durability and moisture resistant quality makes it popular, ruling over the fact that plastic accounts for 3.9 per cent of India’s solid waste and its widespread use causes unprecedented environmental problems and serious health risks.

The Plastics (Manufacture, Usage and Waste Management) Rules, 2009 stipulates that no person shall manufacture, stock, distribute or sell non-recyclable laminated plastic/metallic pouches, multi-layered packaging and other non-recyclable plastics. The draft rules also specify that only those pouches or multi-layered packaging from biodegradable plastic film, which meet BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard) specifications, will be allowed. The Environment Ministry has taken a good step in right direction, but how effective the new law would be - is again a question?

D. Deb, a Packaging Consultant, feels that the new law is an outcome of the pressure from global community. “The world has seen the results that excess use of plastic can bring. So, there is a wave of consciousness everywhere,” he says. “But in a country like India, the companies bounded in profit figures try to manipulate measures for their personal benefits,” he opines.

Deb has rightly pointed on the pressure from global community, as every country is working on developing a successful model for banning the use of non-recyclable plastic. In Australia the government has worked for more than three years in developing a workable model. Six months into South Australia’s ban on plastic bags, the state government has labelled it a remarkable success. An estimated 200 million checkout style bags have so far been stopped from entering the landfill and shoppers have been quick to embrace the changes for the sake of the environment. In UK the process started in the year 2006 and the country achieved a cut in bag numbers of 26 per cent by the end of 2008 (compared with 2006 figures). Comparing May 2006 to May 2009, 346 million fewer bags were used by supermarket customers in that one month alone.

So, there is a gradual but effective plan of action. “India should also think on the same panel,” suggests Niranjan Vora from Dynaflex. He appreciates the model where the Government of a country is working together with industry to find a solution. “We have seen in past that a blanket over night ban doesn’t work in a country like India. It only creates corruption and chaos,” he says.
Then what needs to be done?

Vora proposes a plan of action with the day to day life related example, “Today do we see a milk pouch on the road? No, whereas we see millions of gutka pouches and potato chips packs. Why? This is because if tomorrow each empty gutka pouch was bought by scrap dealers, just like milk pouch is, for say even 10 paise per pouch, people will collect it and sell it once or twice a month. Milk pouch follows a similar route, the lady of the house sees savings there - a financial incentive. Hence a collection system is in place by default without the requirement of a government ban or rule.”

So, what the government needs is a smart thinking and give tax breaks to products made of recyclable material, tax the plastic bags less which are made of reused material and levy more tax on products, goods, or companies which use non recyclable or non reusable packaging. “We know that when some need is being fulfilled, someone else is profiting from it,” says Vora. “So, less taxed material would come up as a first choice among the companies to make profit.”

K. Anand from Paharpur 3P finds the plastic disposal to be more important an issue than a ban on its usage. “Plastics have become an integral and indispensable part of modern life at an affordable cost. With the constant growth in consumption of plastics, there is potential increase in the amount of plastics going in to the waste stream. Many developed and developing countries are now facing serious problems in managing the disposal of plastics waste. The immediate plan should be to form a panel from the Industry and the Government. Nandan Nilekani who heads Unique Identification Authority of India, which is galloping, thinks on the same line. He feels that without the involvement of industry in the planning, Government can not conclude on a workable theory.

Anand believes that the plastic waste can be recycled to make containers, mobile flooring system, plastic benches, auto parts, industrial fibers, base cups, car stops, playground equipment, plastic lumber, flower pot, toys etc. According to him the plastic waste can be converted into liquid fuel or can be used in resurfacing roads where Government support is required for such entrepreneurs. “Innovative ideas on the usage of plastic waste and its disposal is the need of the hour,” he declares.

Several associations and non-profit organizations have also taken up the issue and are working towards spreading awareness. “We need a non- profit body like The Waste & Resource Action Programme, WRAP,” proposes Vora. “It is a nonprofit department created in 2000 as part of the UK Government's waste strategies and its mission is to help develop markets for material resources that would otherwise have become waste. It provides advisory services to local authorities and helps influence public behaviour through national level communication programmes,” he notifies.

It is estimated that more than 100 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year all over the world; in India it is only 2 million tonnes. The use of plastic in India is 2 kg per person per year while in European countries it is 60 kg and in US it is 80 kg. With these figures, the control on manufacturing and usage of plastic seems easy for India, but only if the proposed law in this direction seems applicable. The Environment Ministry has invited comments from the stakeholders on the draft rules, following which the execution will be decided.

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