Plastics products

The attributes that have made the use of plastics popular in bottles,

buckets, shoes and packaging materials, in general, and in carry bags,

in particular, are as follows:

• Inertness and chemical resistance

• Excellent barrier properties and water-proof characteristics

• Safe in handling due to non-breakability and light in weight

• Transparency, allowing easy visibility of content being

carried/stored/packed

• Can also be opaque to protect the content from exposure to sunlight,

when required

• Resistance to bacterial and other microbial growth

• However, after use, the disposal of the waste is a

problem.

Plastics is a major toxic pollutant of our

times.

Lead and Cadmium pigments may be used as

additives in polyethylene and polypropylene.

Plastics is a non-biodegradable substance. It

pollutes air, water and soil.

The very properties that have made plastic so useful for

modern living, pose problems once its useful life is over.

Plastic is used in paints, cable coverings and window

frames to prevent rotting, but this also makes degradation

that much more difficult.

Plastic food packaging increases the shelf life of foods, and

provides a cheap, hygienic and versatile range of

wrappings. Although it has obvious advantages for the food

industry, the huge increase in plastic packaging has greatly

increased plastic waste and, consequently, litter.

• Various groups have sought ban on manufacture and use of plastic bags, and many municipalities and state governments have considered such bans as the only means to deal with this visible environmental concern.

• The decision on material or product ban for environmental reasons requires effective implementation to achieve desired results .

• The issue of restricting or banning use of such products in limited geographical areas is fraught with serious threats of failure but a national ban on products is more likely to succeed.

Banned products: Carry bags, glasses, plates, cups Plastic flags, buntings, flexes, banners Plastic Sheets used in dining tables in

marriage halls Plastics used for sale of chips and other food

items. Not banned: Sachets used for milk.

Single-use plastic bags (SUPBs) emerged as a popular

bag choice for consumers.

For example, more SUPBs were produced in the first

decade of the 21st century than the entire 20th century

combined.

The popularity of single-use bags can be traced to their

convenience, lightweight and ability to be reused for

other purposes, among other reasons.

In India plastic bags had largely replaced the use of re-

usable bags and containers in shopping.

The share of plastic waste in total solid waste had thus

risen from 0.6% in 1996 to 9.2% in 2005 (Solid Waste

Management in India, World Bank Report 2008).

Over 50% of this comprised used plastic bags and

packaging (The Energy Research Institute 2002).

Individual consumers benefit from the use of plastic bags because of their convenience, while the whole society bears the collective cost of their disposal. Plastic thin bags are environmentally

unfriendly in the extreme, takes hundreds of years to degrade and fill up landfills. It often gets ingested by animals, and its indiscriminate disposal by incineration pollutes the air and releases toxic substances.

Plastic bag regulations in India are based on the Plastic Manufacture, Sale and Usage

Rules, 1999 which was amended in 2003 under the Environment (Protection) Act of 1986. These rules prohibit the manufacture, stocking,

distribution, or selling of carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastic less than 20 x 30 centimeters in size and 20 microns in thickness. These rules also disallow the use of recycled plastic bags and containers for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging of food items.

Further, units manufacturing plastic bags are required to register with the respective State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee (PCC) prior to the commencement of production. The Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, has made minimum thickness as 40 micron, and requires conformation to specific BIS (Bureau of Indian standards)

standards.

Importantly the use of plastic sachets for storing,

packing or selling gutkha (crushed preparation of

beetle nut with tobacco), tobacco and pan masala

(beetle nuts) have been banned.

One of the major provisions under the new Rules is

the explicit recognition of the role of waste pickers.

The new rules require the municipal authority to

constructively engage waste pickers.

In order to reduce the problems associated with plastic

bag wastes, it is recommended to educate the public

(1) not to use plastic bags, and as an alternate,

(2) to use eco-friendly alternative materials (bags) made

from clothes, natural fibers and paper.

City level legislation is also highly recommended against

indiscriminate use and disposal of plastic bag wastes as

well as to end free distribution of plastic bags by

retailers.

A ban may have to pass the legal hurdle in addition to difficulty in enforcement.

Manufacturer and traders association argue that waste management implementation has to take care of this problem and not a ban.

If industry stops work, thousands of employees suffer, and cases are registered in Courts to stay ban order; after a hearing, if Court gives OK to ban, the change will come.

Bio-plastics or organic plastics are a form of plastic derived from renewable organic sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch and pea starch; not as inexpensive as plastic.

The basic characteristic of these plastics is that they are capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.

Reusable bags: These come in canvas, woven plastic fibre, hemp, cotton and even leather.

Biodegradation is a chemical process during which micro-organisms that are available in the environment convert materials into natural substances such as water, carbon dioxide, and compost (artificial additives are not needed). The process of biodegradation depends on the

surrounding environmental conditions (e.g. location or temperature), on the material and on the application.

The term “biobased” means that the material or

product is (partly) derived from biomass (plants).

Biomass used for bioplastics stems from e.g. corn, sugarcane, or cellulose.

To understand fully the effect a product has on the environment it is necessary to

carry out a ‘life cycle analysis,’ which means looking at the impacts of production, use and disposal of the product. At present, most plastic waste ends up in a

landfill site where it is buried in the ground. Biodegradable plastics are attacked by bacteria, fungi or other micro-organisms which use them as food. Most plastics are not biodegradable fully.

Biodegradable plastics decompose quickly and completely only under defined conditions in an industrial composting facility. o To control littering on land and at sea,

requires education and a transition from a throw-away society to one that has learned to recognize the value of individual products, even after their useful life.