Use of metalized material & clean-thin films in food packaging be banned
Thickness standards of carry bags and packaging films need to be increased from current level of 40 microns to 60-80 microns to provide them attractive economic value and promote effective collection, a top Chemical and Fertilizers Ministry official said at an ASSOCHAM event.Multi-layer metalized flexible packaging materials need to be banned as they have no economic value and volume at present and are not easily recyclable due to their heterogeneous nature/composite structure, said Mr Surjit Kumar Chaudhary, secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals while inaugurating a conference on 'Recycling & Managing Plastic Waste,' organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
He also said that there should be strict regulation of filler content in other plastics like that in plastic films to make recycling and collection viable.
Use of clean thin films in food packaging needs to be banned while polyethylene (PE)/polypropylene (PP)/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) that are used for rigid packaging of food products including disposable needs to be made mandatory, said Mr Chaudhary.
He also said that aforementioned regulatory framework for manufacturing and use of plastics should be imposed not only for local manufacturing but also for imports.
There should be restriction on the entire vendor value chain including plastic packaging material users, distributors, service providers and others in their registration/approvals, power connections, pollution control approvals and others, said Mr Chaudhary.
Skill sets for segregation, recycling of used plastic need to be imparted to people who collect littered plastics including rag pickers, scavengers, sanitary and conservancy workers free of cost, he said.
Loans with subsidy need to be made available to them to procure recycling machinery (Rs 2-3 lakh), said the secretary.
He also said that efforts should be made to make the domestic recycling industry organised, recognised and trained for better and safe practices.
Awareness to reduce littering needs to be created through education at elementary level itself, further said Mr Chaudhary.
He also said that it is a wrong notion that plastic is not being recycled. Most of the plastic is getting recycled while what is not getting recycled is plastic bags which constitutes only 2-3 per cent of total plastic being consumed across India.
The secretary also further said that per-capita plastic consumption being currently at 8-10 kilograms (kgs) in India will considerably increase in future as per-capita consumption of plastic in Europe/US and China is more than 12 times and four times to that of India's.
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