Page 74 - Plastics News December 2019

FEAturEs

consider this as a push to stop the use of plastic and switch
to other sustainable options. Jain states, “We don’t have
any sustainable alternatives today but industries and
packaging companies are working on it and hopefully we
will get some good alternatives soon. But definitely, the
coming alternative will be costly in the initial phase and
there may be some resistance on the use and also may
pose some challenges on its disposal.
However, it’s an accepted fact that plastics are possibly
one of man’s best inventions of this century. “We have
to take responsibility for its end of life where it is not
further rolled back from its own stand, the government collected and recycled and reprocessed,” added Pillai.
has made a smart move to wipe the slate clean on blanket UFlex through its practices is trying to recycle plastic
plastic ban. The recent furore over the single-use plastic waste into granules which is further used to make 10,000
ban has left various plastic manufacturers and units household and industrial prod ucts like road dividers, door
shaken affecting the whole plastic economy drastically. and window panel, outdoor furniture and much more.
Manufacturing units have no clarification on the definition The second method they follow is reprocessing of plastic
of the single-use plastic. Ashish Jain, Founder, and waste into fuel through the process of Pyrolysis that emits
Director of Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA) said, zero greenhouse emission. They also have a green sourced
“Although, the government has created a hype about the plastic packaging film Asclepius which is manufactured
ban on single-use plastic and for this reason, there is a drop by recycling collected PET plastic bottle waste. It is also
in the sale and production of many plastic consumables.” working on a special technology that will convert plastic

However, few companies are in a move to see this as an waste into 100 per cent biodegradable biomass. However,
opportunity for a change. Jeevaraj Pillai, JT. President depending on the type of industry and usage, there are
- Packaging & New Product Development, UFlex Limited different types of solutions. Moglix being a supply chain
informed, “We see this as an opportunity as we will soon platform has helped food companies to switch from
be venturing into the manufacturing of a viable and an traditional polypropylene or PET-based containers to PLA
implementable biodegradable solution.” (corn starch), aluminium, paper, areca or bamboo leaves
based solutions. “We have helped e-commerce companies
Alternatives and revised cost to switch from LDPE bags to corns starch-based, paper,
Plastic stake in the market is huge and 25 per cent jute, cotton-based bags. Typically costs of such solutions
revenue of petroleum and chemical industries comes are higher ranging from the existing costs but if used
from plastic only. It won’t be wrong to mention that five judiciously, can bring the overall cost of ownership as
trillion economy growth cannot be achieved with the most of these materials can be used multiple times,”
ban on plastic consumables, said an expert. Considering added Dash.
the economics of the announcement which has indirectly
affected the cost of plastic manufacturing immensely, Government’s stand
Moglix, a digital supply chain platform supporting nd Centre has put the onus on the state governments
elevating various SMEs finds that resisting consumption of regarding the usage of single-use plastic and its ban and
single-use plastics and moving over to sustainable solutions further shelved it. It is right that the onus is on state
can increase the cost of packaging for companies by up government and many state governments are bringing
to three times. “Through innovative solutions, we have their own bye-laws and restrictions on the uses of various
helped our customers to absorb the economic impact plastic commodities. “We have 34 states and UT and
of the transition to eco-friendly packaging to just a 15 if each state brings its own policy on plastic uses then
per cent cost increase of the packaging,” added Partha it will be a bane for everyone and not only corporate.
Dash, Senior Vice President- Business Operations, Moglix. This will dilute the main intentions to beat pollution
Most companies working on the manufacturing of plastic caused by mismanagement of plastic. Enforcement of

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