Page 62 - Plastics News March 2019

IN THE NEWS

Govt puts complete ban on import Plastic crushing machine for
of solid plastic waste Nashik Road station soon

aking an important step towards tackling the he Nashik Road railway station will soon have
Tmenace of plastic waste in India, the government Tplastic bottle crushing machine to collect and get
has completely banned import of solid plastic waste/ rid of the waste generated in the railway premises.
scrap into the country. India generates 25,940 tonnes of The announcement was made by RK Sharma, senior
plastic waste every day. “The country has now completely divisional commercial manager of Bhusawal division
prohibited the import of solid plastic waste by amending of Central Railway. “The station has been selected
the Hazardous Waste (Management & Trans-boundary
Movement) Rules on March 1,” an environment ministry
official said. The government has plugged a loophole
that allowed the import of plastic waste into India for
processing.“Solid plastic waste has been prohibited from
import into the country including in Special Economic
Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU),” the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(MoEFCC) said in an order made public on Wednesday. The
change in law was part of the Hazardous and Other Wastes
(Management & Transboundary Movement) Amendment
Rules, 2019. The influx of PET bottles has quadrupled as ‘eco-smart’ station following orders from the
from 2017 to 2018, the Delhi-based environmentalist National Green Tribunal (NGT). As far as Nashik Road
organisation, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch station is concerned, over 80 percent of the work has
(PDUSM) had pointed out in January.“Indian firms are already been completed. The Nashik Road railway
importing plastic scraps from China, Italy, Japan and station has water dispensing units on its premises.
Malawi for recycling and the imports of PET bottle scrap The waste is collected from the premises and around
& flakes has increased from 12,000 tonnes in FY 16-17 one kilometre stretch from the station, which gets
dumped in appropriate manner. The announcement
was made by RK Sharma, senior divisional commercial
manager of Bhusawal division of Central Railway during
an inspection tour to the station.“The station has
been selected as ‘eco-smart’ station following orders
from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). We live in a
world which is mostly concentrated on make, use, and
dispose. This, loosely referred to as linear economy,
ensures that we walk towards an impending mass
destruction of the planet where the natural habitats
would be choking with plastic and other toxic industrial
waste very soon.However, all may not be lost after all.
While many organisations follow the destructive path
to 48,000 tonnes in FY 17-18 growing @ 290%. India has of a linear economy, growing awareness regarding the
already imported 25,000 MT in the first 3 months of FY environment has led to the development of a concept
18-19.” Waste management has been a great challenge called 'circular economy'. Beijing allows commuters to
to the developing nations as affluence and consumption pay for the metro ticket with plastic bottles at a special
are closely related. Any man-made object intentionally ticket machine. In an Indonesian city, buses accept
or unintentionally discarded, disposed of, or abandoned payment through plastic bottles and not cash. There
that enters the environment is regarded as waste . are many such initiatives planned ahead.

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