Page 27 - Plastics News September 2019

FEATURES

Plastics Ban- an uncalled measure, for it serves no purpose

The country lacks an organized system for management of plastic waste, leading to widespread littering across
its towns and cities and a ban as such would only add to the problems disproportionately affecting the poor,
from milk and biscuit packets to toiletry sachets

ndia is set to impose a WR DOORZ SHRSOH WLPH WR DGRSW DOWHUQDWLYHV RIÀFLDOV VDLG
Inationwide ban on plastic Some Indian states have already outlawed polythene bags.
bags, cups and straws on The federal government also plans tougher environmental
October 2, in its most sweeping standards for plastic products and will insist on the use
measure yet to stamp out single- RI UHF\FODEOH SODVWLF RQO\ WKH ÀUVW VRXUFH VDLG ,W ZLOO
use plastics from cities and also ask e-commerce companies to cut back on plastic
villages that rank among the packaging that makes up nearly 40% of India's annual
world's most polluted. Prime SODVWLF FRQVXPSWLRQ RIÀFLDOV VD\ &KHDS VPDUWSKRQHV
Minister Narendra Modi, who is and a surge in the number of internet users have boosted
leading efforts to scrap such plastics by 2022, is set to orders for e-commerce companies, such as Amazon.com
launch the campaign with a ban on as many as six items ,QF DQG :DOPDUW ,QF V )OLSNDUW ZKLFK ZUDS WKHLU ZDUHV
on October 2, the birth anniversary of independence from books and medicines to cigarettes and cosmetics - in
leader Mahatma Gandhi. These include plastic bags, cups, plastic, pushing up consumption.
plates, small bottles, straws and certain types of sachets,
However with the Plastic industry and various association
VDLG WKH RIÀFLDOV ZKR DVNHG QRW WR EH LGHQWLÀHG LQ OLQH lead by AIPMA opposing the blanket ban on plastic the
with government policy. "The ban will be comprehensive
and will cover manufacturing, usage and import of such JRYHUQPHQW KDG WR HDW LWV ZRUG ZLWK D FODULÀFDWLRQ IURP
Environment Ministry saying There is no ban in the works.
LWHPV RQH RIÀFLDO VDLG ,QGLD V HQYLURQPHQW DQG KRXVLQJ Union Minister for Environment and Forests Prakash
ministries, the two main ministries leading the drive, did
not respond to emails from Reuters to seek comment. -DYDGNHU LQ D EULHÀQJ VDLG ´3ULPH 0LQLVWHU 1DUHQGUD
Modi didn’t say ‘ban’, but said ‘goodbye’ to single-use
In an Independence Day speech on August 15, Modi had plastic waste. From October 2, we will begin an attempt
XUJHG SHRSOH DQG JRYHUQPHQW DJHQFLHV WR WDNH WKH ÀUVW to collect all that waste. Nearly 10,000 tonnes of plastic
big step" on Oct. 2 towards freeing India of single-use waste remains uncollected.” This was in the context of
plastic. Concerns are growing worldwide about plastic Mr. Modi’s exhortations to Indians to eschew the use of
pollution, with a particular focus on the oceans, where single-use plastic by October 2, the 150th birth anniversary
nearly 50% of single-use plastic products end up, killing of Mahatma Gandhi.
marine life and entering the human food chain, studies It is not known if anyone in the government has done
show. The European Union plans to ban single-use plastic
items such as straws, forks, knives and cotton buds by HFRQRPLF DQG HQYLURQPHQWDO FRVW EHQHÀW DQDO\VHV RI D
nationwide ban on single-use plastics. The paradox of
2021.China's commercial hub of Shanghai is gradually the plastic bag is that its total environmental footprint is
reining in use of single-use plastics in catering, and its actually much lower than that of alternatives. According
island province of Hainan has already vowed to completely to a study conducted by the Danish government in 2018,
eliminate single-use plastic by 2025.
you need to use a paper bag 43 times to achieve the same
Plastics littering is a worldwide problem but felt acutely in cumulative environmental impact as a plastic bag
India because our towns and villages do not have adequate Confusion over single-use plastic remains
waste disposal systems. India lacks an organized system
for management of plastic waste, leading to widespread Single-use plastics, often also referred to as disposable
OLWWHULQJ DFURVV LWV WRZQV DQG FLWLHV 7KH EDQ RQ WKH ÀUVW VL[ plastics, are commonly used for packaging and include
items of single-use plastics will clip 5% to 10% from India's items intended to be used only once before they are thrown
annual consumption of about 14 million tonnes of plastic, away or recycled. These include, among other items,
WKH ÀUVW RIÀFLDO VDLG 3HQDOWLHV IRU YLRODWLRQV RI WKH EDQ grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers,
will probably take effect after an initial six-month period cups and cutlery. Plastic packaging is mostly single-use,

27 September 2019 Plastics News