Experts in the field of packaging have stressed on the need to recycle or regulate plastic produced in the country rather than banning it in order to prevent environmental pollution.
"It is necessary that we (industry and consumers) use plastics in an environmentally sustainable manner. Therefore, regulation of plastic waste both at producer-level and consumer-level is important," R R Rashmi, Special Secretary of Union Ministry of Forests and Environment told a one-day conference held here yesterday.
The conference was organised by Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), an autonomous body under Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
"We have established a regime both for producers and consumers. There is a provision for user fees on consumer now. If you go to a shopping mall they will not give you a carry bag unless you pay for it, the reason being that consumers should become conscious for not using it," he said.
"The management of the waste is important, we still are uncharted about the waste management done at municipal level. The problem is more of finance and infrastructure than of the intention," Rashmi opined.
In 'Swacch Bharat Mission' under AMRUT scheme there is a specific scheme of remediating the land fills, establishing segregation facility at the landfills, setting up incinerators to dispose of wastes so that we don't have landfills at all, said Rashmi.
"By 2030, under the waste management rules we (government) are supposed to fizz out all the landfills. We will support the local bodies through AMRUT to segregate the landfills," he said.
The Secretary of Environment Ministry said that regulation is not an end in itself, regulation is meant to promote the industry, Rashmi said.
"Almost 60 per cent of the plastic produced daily in India is recycled, however, the government's aim is to balance the remaining 40 per cent so that we can recycle almost all the plastics produced in the country," he said.
"Banning plastic is not a solution because we do not
have a substitute to plastics...Only regulating it will be a solution. The government is trying to regulate it, like earlier the Centre had said that 50 micron thick plastic bags should be used instead of lesser micron," IIP Director Dr N C Saha said.
For example, he said, the thickness of carry bags, which was earlier 20 microns, has now been regulated to be 50 microns.
The Centre has laid down the laws for collection, segregation and disposal of wastes, but it is for the state governments to implement them, Dr Saha said.
However, the state governments and municipal bodies alone cannot do this and it is the collective responsibility of the consumer and brand owners as well in this task, Saha opined.
"The objective of our conference is to make people aware that banning of plastics is not the solution. Instead of banning, let us think what we can do when we do not have an alternative to plastics. This is where the role of recycling plastics comes into play, he said.
The conference was organised on the occasion of a five-day International Plastics Exhibition '10th Plastivision India 2017' being organised by All India Plastics Manufacturers Association (AIPMA) from January 19 to 23.
