Page 26 - Plastics News March 2018

FeAtures

Debunking myths about plastics and the tapping Alternates

While a ban on plastic has been imposed, the challenge ahead lies in providing appropriate alternative
materials that will perform the function as efficiently as plastic.

ollowing the State government’s decision to ban Mr. Japtap said that catalysts could also be created to
Fplastics, Mumbai University’s Institute of Chemical degrade the polymer. He said that heavy metals could end
Technology in Matunga organised a knowledge sharing up contaminating the land and water on degradation. He
session on Wednesday to debunk myths about the use of said, “To provide a solution, we have been working on
plastics and discuss environment-friendly solutions to creating a catalyst for the past seven years. This catalyst
the problem. will hold more water and improve soil conditions even
after degeneration.
Vijay Habbu, adjunct professor at the institute, said,
“The kind of intuitive knowledge about plastics has not Alternates
sunk into people’s minds. You can’t compare them with While there have been alternates available like the corn
metals, which have been around for ages. They are
and maize starch bags for quite some time now the
relatively new materials. Hence, there are a lot of myths latest to enter is starch bags made from potato. we are
revolving around their usage, which is why we need to
having innovative starch bags one of its kind that can
educate people about it.”
even dissolve in water. Food starch may have traditionally
Mr. Habbu said, “Plastic in itself is not what is causing found uses in cooking preparations and starching clothes,
harm. It is citizens like us who are irresponsible and do but starch from potato and maize may soon find a new
not recycle it properly.” He said the plastic processing use: bio-degradable utility bags.
sector in India manufactures 30,000 units every year and
Pune based Science and Technology Park (STP), that
provides employment to 11 lakh people.
runs under the aegis of the Department of Science and
Mr. Habbu cited the World Health Organization’s Technology, in possibly the first-of-its-kind attempt,
monographs on Food Safety in April 2015 to debunk some is planning to come up with starch bags that can even
common myths. He said Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), dissolve in water.
which is widely used for packaging food and beverages Polymer experts are of the view that starch and
contains no endocrine or estrogen disruptors. He said, “It
Polylactic Acid (PLA) materials can be one of the
is a myth that it contains heavy metals. Their presence best suitable alternatives for packaging. However, PLA
is counter-productive as it produces haze in a product.”
being expensive may find less buyers, they suggest.
R.N. Jagtap, professor of paint technology and head of
department of polymer and surface engineering, said,
“Polyethylene is chemically inert and after use it does
not degrade and remains in the environment for over
a 100 years. This leads to pollution.” Mr. Jagtap said,
“The city generates 7,000 tonnes of waste, but there
are only two composters. It will take 60 days for one lot
to biodegrade.”

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