October 24, 2019
The consumption of plastics in the state
Though the production of plastics by licensed manufacturers has considerably
gone down, he says, banned plastic is still being produced extensively by
unwarranted manufactures.Writer-activist Nityanand Jayaram also believes that
plastic products are back in circulation, courtesy lax implementation and
enforcement of the ban. Notably, when the ban was first introduced, the
government had announced its decision to support women’s co-operatives,
entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups working on plastic
replacements.â€According to the Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Second Amendment) Act,
2019 penalties for ‘storage, supply, transport, sale and distribution of
use-and-throw plastics’ was fixed at `25,000, 50,000 and 1,00,000 for first,
second and third-time offences respectively.
On being asked about the inflow of
plastic from other states, he says that special squads will be formed to curb
this menace and warns of stringent action against repeat offenders. Ms Deepthi,
a teacher and resident of Mylapore, says that though the public is aware of the
ill-effects of plastic usage, the prices of cloth bags and other substitutes
prompt them to buy plastic, which comes at a relatively lower cost.. He points
out that this is currently not being followed in the state. However, officials
believe that with a nationwide initiative on eliminating plastic, the movement
to ‘curb the deadly menace of plastic pollution’ will now gain momentum."If the
ban had been effective, we should have seen an alternate economy (built on
plastic alternatives) thriving.
Echoing similar sentiments, a senior food safety
official says that more than 50 per cent of restaurants in the city follow the
‘no-plastic’ rule. Nityanand alleges that these plans too have not been pursued.
Prakash, commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, tells us a different story.
He says that while big shops and eatery joints have visibly switched to
bio-plastic, cloth and paper bags authorised by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control
Board (TNPCB), it is the small shops and vendors that are now posing a problem.
"The design of the ban on paper is also far more advanced compared to its
counterparts, nationally and globally,†she says. The Plastic Waste Management
(PWM) Rules 2016 mandates MNCs to collect back the plastic waste being generated
by their brand items, by themselves or assign some party to do so.
And nearly
over eight months since the Tamil Nadu Government announced a blanket ban on
non-biodegradable and single-use plastics (SUP), plastic commodities are slowly
making a comeback in the city — this time, however, sourced from the
neighbouring states and some elusive dealers. There has been no remarkable
change in this number,†he claims. In a laudable move, the government had
released a descriptive list of 12 eco-friendly alternatives to plastic,
including cloth bags, glass containers, paper plates and cups, banana leaves and
areca nut plates at the time of the ban. "Till date, we have seized five and a
half tonnes of plastic from the city restaurants,†he adds."One kilogram of
single-use plastic, which was earlier priced at `100, is now reportedly being
sold at `150 by some. In the far left corner is the takeaway counter and on its
shelves lie a hundred plastic cups and boxes, neatly stacked one on top of
another. A lorry containing five tonnes of banned plastic was also reportedly
seized by the officials a month back.Several MNCs still sell their products
wrapped in SUPs and the government is doing nothing about it. Reportedly, tons
of plastic is transported every day from other states and fake products dubbed
as ’recyclable’ plastic is also in circulation.â€Considering the economic
setbacks of the small–scale traders, we restrain from going steadfast on them,â€
he adds.
The consumption of plastics in the state stood at 10 lakh tonnes per
year earlier.However, G. The government has also not announced plans so far to
create an alternative livelihood for those affected by the ban,†he alleges. Now
tell me, which one will the public purchase?†he asks. Sankaran, president,
Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry Plastics Manufacturers Association. CHENNAI: It’s eight
am on a Tuesday morning and this popular restaurant at Adyar is already abuzz
with activity as a long queue forms for tables wholesale
blow molding machine and waiters run around taking and delivering orders.
The livelihood of thousands of workers and small traders were hit and illegal
dealers are thriving, but the ban forced many upscale shops and eateries to
switched look for other alternatives.†Biodegradable plastics cost `450 per
kilogram whereas the normal plastic costs `100.The present ban has not only
crippled the livelihood of thousands of workers but has also created a thriving
market for numerous illegal dealers, alleges G. Clearly, this is not the
case.Another reason this ban might not have had the desired impact is the high
price of the alternatives.
Mr Satyapura Shekar, director of Urban Governance,
Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group, also believes that the Tamil Nadu
government has taken a hardline stand on the issue and points out that unlike
states like Mahara-shtra, which rolled back the ban within a few months of its
implementation, the plastic ban is still being enforced in the state. "The shops
will be shut down and sealed if found guilty,†he warns, adding that an illegal
plastic manufacturing unit at Ambattur was recently sealed in a joint operation
conducted by the TNPCB and Chennai Corporation.With the civic body busy
preparing Chennai for the monsoon ‘deluge’, the frequency of raids has notably
come down, which might be another reason for the resurgence of plastic. While he
admits that there are a few cases of lacunae, the ban has largely been
successful, he says. Bio-degradable plastics or green plastic is also not a
solution, he asserts. He notes that though the ban was in effect for the first
few months, the failure on the civic body’s part to conduct regular spot checks
has resulted in plastic commodities slowly creeping back into the
market.Writer-activist Nityanand Jayaram also believes that plastic products are
back in circulation, courtesy lax implementation and enforcement of the ban. "We
have seized over 300 tonnes of plastic until now and `75 lakh to `80 lakh fine
has been collected
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