Page 14 - Plastics News April 2018

THE ALL INDIA PLASTICS MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION
Office of the President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2018

The All India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association (AIPMA) strongly
Opposes the Plastic Ban in Maharashtra

AIPMA opposes the Notification for Ban of various Plastic Products in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Plastic

and Thermocol Products Notification, 2018 is impractical, unrealistic and is not the solution for underlying
issue of Pollution. The said Ban has drastically affected the Plastic Industry and its impacts can be seen across

the state. The notification has affected Manufacturers, Traders, Distributers, Retailers and Stakeholders of the
Plastic Industry and has resulted in unemployment on a large scale. This decision will devour the Plastic
Industry and will affect the State’s Economy as well. Soon all affiliated industries like Beverage, Medical, Fast
Food, Retail chains, Wholesalers, Garment, Packaging, Dairy industry, etc. will shutdown as no alternatives

are viable vis-a-vis plastic packaging. The Government on one hand wants to welcome new Manufacturers to
the state but Bans like these will even shift the existing Manufacturers out of the state. This Ban is mostly

going to affect the common man as banning Plastic will make everyone’s life difficult. The Ban will also
compromise food and health security as the quality and shelf life of the food product will be affected. The All
India Plastics Manufacturers’ Association will soon be taking a legal stand against this unjust notification.

There is a comprehensive central regulation issued by MOEFCC called Plastics Waste Management Rules that
effectively addresses the plastic waste issue. Hence multiple regulations around same challenge may send

potentially conflicting messages and more importantly hamper ease of doing business.

On Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a national level framework is being proposed by the industry and
is under active consideration of the MOEFCC. It is better to wait for that to be released before developing

anything specific for Maharashtra as a State. The EPR model proposed in the Maharashtra notification takes
away the primary responsibility of the Municipal, Local Urban Bodies and Village panchayats to administer

the task of waste collection, segregation and disposal. The established models of EPR are in partnership with
the Industry but Primary responsibility remains with the Government.

The notification, scope and timelines, pose considerable challenges of implementation and more detailed
thinking is needed so that we do not disrupt availability of everyday use products to consumers.

Plastics News April 2018 14