Page 26 - Plastics News April 2018

FeAtures

at least a year to have it fully implemented and doing so in these cans), aluminium, among other materials. The
with immediate effect, with a three-month window, will e-commerce and organised retail segments will have to
create a different set of problems: There are several units seriously reconsider their options now with this ban, as
that produce such material and the last mile connection their business flourishes on the use of plastics for both
with the consumer who uses the bag will be a SME. This sale and delivery. Plastic was a cheaper option that made
will mean a loss of business and jobs as a ban means it economical to sell goods. By moving back to other forms,
zero production. There are large stocks of material lying there will be an increase in the cost of packaged goods.
with dealers who use it to supply goods, and hence the Local dairies, restaurants, tea vendors, snack shops, among
destruction of inventory will mean considerable losses for other places, will be affected quite adversely on this score
the holders unless they are compensated, which will not as business will be impacted. Airlines are probably the
be the case. biggest users of plastics, starting from bottles of water, to
disposable glasses used for water and other liquids. They
Backward linkages with companies that produce and
distribute these products will also get impacted as the will have to find ways of serving to be made of a material
machinery used will become defunct. Therefore, collateral that does not violate environment norms.
damage will be felt here. Providing a one-year window Fifthly, related to the above, if the idea of banning plastic
gives stakeholders time to make necessary adjustments is based on the environment harm being caused, then, as
and minimises pain. The SME segment is already in the NPA companies substitute plastic with paper, their moves will
stream of banks; there will be accretion to the same as result in cutting of more trees, which is tantamount to
these associated businesses close down. the same. Alternatively, using tin or aluminium will lead
to larger imports that affect the economy.
Forcing everyone to surrender at the same point increases
the cost of disposal. Ideally the protocol should be to stop
fresh production and let existing bags be used repeatedly
till they become un-usable, to ensure that the transition is
smooth. With this ban, there will be tonnes of plastic that
will be handed over to the authorities, which will either
gather dust or prompt large scale disposal that would
otherwise be well spread out over time.

Thirdly, the present law blows hot and cold on the
exemptions. Milk bags and (polyethylene terephthalate)
PET bottles of specific dimensions are exempted. But what
happens to grains, edible oils, among other things. Would
they have to be packed differently with this new law? Also,
the rationale of differentiating between a half-litre and a The basic outcome of this discourse is that economic
less than half-litre bottle appears a compromise as either progress and access to goodies comes at the cost of
the ban should cover all bottles or none. The same holds environment. By doing away with plastic, there is a shift
for milk packets. In fact, curiously, a lot of disposed plastic to denuding forest land. Increasing crop production leads
bags tend to be recycled for further use and hence if the to a lowering of water table levels, and moving from petrol
idea of recycling can work for milk pouches, it should hold cars to electric vehicles involves the issue of disposal of
for all plastics that can be reused. Quite clearly, not much batteries. Whenever we embark on an issue like plastics,
thought has gone into the detailing of the scheme. there is a need for debate, where all constituents are
involved, so that the road to implementation becomes
Fourthly, if plastic bags and packaging are banned, then easier. There are jobs involved and issues like disposal of
users have to find alternatives. One may recollect that up the existing quantum of plastics, ways to check the entry
to the 1980s all packs were in brown paper bags, which of such material from states where there is no such ban
gave way to newspapers being recycled, after which came are challenges that have not been thought of at this stage.
the plastic bags. The nation will have to move back to A consensual approach with a longer timeline would have
the use of paper or cardboard or tin (edible oils were sold been more pragmatic.

Plastics News April 2018 26