Page 7 - Plastics News February 2019

THE PRESIDENT
THE PRESIDENT SAYS SAYS

EPR Has To Be Done Collectively

s expected the interim budget was presented with a focus on forthcoming elections.
AIndividuals and farmers have been given more importance than other measures of the
economy. The State Governments share will increase in GST collections, which is a good sign
in terms of an increase in state revenues. Tax benefits on Second home will create a demand
for Housing sector, which is the most sought requirement for Real Estate business.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has recently issued notice on the compliance of EPR
(Extended Producer’s Responsibility) rules to about 95 FMCG Companies and gave one month
to submit the EPR proposal of the companies. National and International companies are among
who have received notices. The department officials claim that they are industry-friendly,
however they are determined to implement the rules.
Extended Producer Responsibility is a concept where manufacturers, producer, brand owner, and
importers of products should bear a significant degree of responsibility for the environmental
impacts of their products throughout the product life-cycle, including selection of raw material
and design to produce the product and its packaging, efficient manufacturing process with
minimum impact on environment, and develop collection back mechanism for the post-consumer MEELA JAYADEV
products and get it recycle.
The compliance to EPR rules is a major responsibility on manufacturers. All producers and other
stakeholders in the value chain must gear-up at the earliest to comply with the EPR rules, failing
which it may become increasingly difficult to run the business as usual. The administration
and other compliance authorities must look in to the practical difficulties in implementing
the EPR rules and come with proper and possible measures or amendments on time to time
basis so that the desired objective of Environment Protection becomes possible to achieve.
The responsibility of individuals, civilians along with officials is also a must in implementing
EPR rules. The EPR concept will be successful only with the involvement of general public and
administration. The EPR concept is well discussed and known among the industry and officials,
however the same is not known to general people, who are the users of the products. And
without proper involvement of general public used to littering, it is very difficult to get and
collect segregated waste either for recycling or for waste to energy and end of life solution.
The Government, local bodies, industry partners, and industry associations must focus on
awareness of the EPR to general public and ensure their involvement also for segregation and
changing the littering habits for an effective results.
Plastic waste management today has become a global issue and measures in the pipeline in
India can be looked at as a pioneering effort. However, there is a caution for the Government
to ensure that the industry providing economically efficient solutions is not overburdened with
compliance’s that would lead to stagnation and negative growth. For a country on the go, it
would be bad economics.
Eventually, these determinations assure an economy that will develop to cumulative circular
economy in few years. Presently, PET bottles are among the easiest products to recycle, and
no wonder they are being recycled in India in large quantity. If something can be recycled,
they can be easily picked up in India. A study report from National Chemical Laboratory (NCL)
in Pune, found that 60-70% of PET bottles are recycled in India into other products, especially
polyester fibers that can be used as textiles. They constitute roughly 900 kilotons of products
that would have become waste otherwise. The recycled PET bottles become clothing, sofa
covers, or pillow stuffing. These products last long and so they have not yet been through a
second round of recycling on a large scale.
Meela Jayadev
president@aipma.net

7 Februar y 2019 Plastics News