Times of India
12.9.12
12.9.12
Delhi slaps blanket ban on plastic bags
The writer has posted comments on this article
TNN | Sep 12, 2012, 02.24AM IST
NEW
DELHI: After a false start three years ago, Delhi may finally be on the road to
being free of plastic bags. The Delhi cabinet on Tuesday approved imposition of
a blanket ban on use, storage, sale and manufacture of plastic bags in the
city.
The new ban, more comprehensive and better thought out, will supersede the earlier notification issued in January 2009 that prohibited only the use, storage and sale of plastic bags in commercial areas.
"There will be no leniency in implementing the blanket ban and crackdown on violators will be more aggressive this time," chief minister Sheila Dikshit said.
A notification on the ban will be issued soon and the government will have one year from that date to implement the ban completely.
The 2009 ban failed to make any difference in the city largely due to poor implementation. This time, the government has moved to plug loopholes in that law.
The ban has been extended to include all plastic bags, even those made of virgin or bio-degradable plastic of 40 microns or more thickness, which had previously been permitted. The only exception will be use of plastic carry bags under the Bio-Medical Waste Management and Handling Rules of 1998.
The ban now includes manufacturing of plastic bags and use of plastic sheets, films or covers for packaging books, magazines or cards.
Plastic ban: Traders say govt ignored them
"The 2009 ban did not do too well since the crackdown on violations was poor. Although a number of agencies had been authorized to take action, only the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) carried out raids. With plastic bags proliferating in the city, this action was just not sufficient," said a senior government official.
The official added that the DPCC member secretary was required to personally appear in court to file challans against offenders. "On such days, he spent his entire time in court and that took a huge toll on other work," he said.
Since in the previous order manufacturing was permitted within the city limits, these bags finally made their way to local markets. "There was also confusion regarding the kind of plastic bags permitted. In the previous ban, bags of 40-micron thickness or more and biodegradable plastics were permitted. But since there is no way of measuring thickness or assessing the plastic without sending the bag to a laboratory, we decided to impose a complete ban," he said.
The ban is also likely to be more effective this time, say sources, because it is a government initiative and not due to the high court's orders which brought about the 2009 ban. "The previous ban was imposed since civic agencies were unable to handle the city's municipal waste problem. The court said since they couldn't handle the waste, they should ban the problem issues, one of which was plastic. Now that the government is acting on its own intent, implementation should be better," said Bharti Chaturvedi, director of NGO Chintan.
Around one lakh people are directly employed in manufacturing of plastic bags and a few lakh more in selling and distribution. However, barely a fraction of them are recognized by the government since only 200-300 of the nearly 4,000 manufacturing units are actually authorized. The remaining are located in unrecognized industrial areas and function without a licence from the state pollution control board.
Expectedly, the ban has met with heavy criticism from the traders' associations, who said the government did not take their concerns into account.
"The matter is already in the Supreme Court and only the final hearing is to take place. Why was the government in such a hurry to bring about another proposal? Now that the cabinet has cleared this ban, we will appeal to the SC to conduct final hearing in the case as soon as it can," said Ravi Agarwal, chairman of the environment committee of the All India Plastic Industries Association.
Agarwal said when the draft notification for the ban was issued, the high court had said that the government will not be allowed to implement it for a week from the date of notification. "We will approach the HC in this matter now," he added.
The ban on manufacturing is what is pinching the industry. "The earlier ban rendered thousands jobless but at least the industry in Delhi did not shut down. Around 4,000 carry bag manufacturing units are functioning across the city and once the market was closed to them, they had started supplying to neighbouring states. Now, even this option has been closed," said Taresh Singh, a trader.
"Lakhs of people will lose their jobs but the government seems to have given them no thought. We will take a representation to the chief minister and ask her to constitute a task force comprising the industry and government officials to work out alternatives to plastic and formulate a rehabilitation plan," said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary, Confederation of All India Traders.
Times View
This ban likely to be more effective
The proposed ban may well be greeted with scepticism given the fate of similar moves in the past. However, there is reason to believe that it might be more effective this time. One key factor is that the executive has initiated this ban rather than being forced by the judiciary into doing so. Also, there are no fine distinctions being drawn between plastic bags of varying thickness, which makes it easier to enforce. We hope, therefore, that this ban will be more effective than attempts in the past. Given the fact that some states have managed to do so, there is no reason why a geographically smaller territory like Delhi should be unable to make it work.
The new ban, more comprehensive and better thought out, will supersede the earlier notification issued in January 2009 that prohibited only the use, storage and sale of plastic bags in commercial areas.
"There will be no leniency in implementing the blanket ban and crackdown on violators will be more aggressive this time," chief minister Sheila Dikshit said.
A notification on the ban will be issued soon and the government will have one year from that date to implement the ban completely.
The 2009 ban failed to make any difference in the city largely due to poor implementation. This time, the government has moved to plug loopholes in that law.
The ban has been extended to include all plastic bags, even those made of virgin or bio-degradable plastic of 40 microns or more thickness, which had previously been permitted. The only exception will be use of plastic carry bags under the Bio-Medical Waste Management and Handling Rules of 1998.
The ban now includes manufacturing of plastic bags and use of plastic sheets, films or covers for packaging books, magazines or cards.
Plastic ban: Traders say govt ignored them
"The 2009 ban did not do too well since the crackdown on violations was poor. Although a number of agencies had been authorized to take action, only the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) carried out raids. With plastic bags proliferating in the city, this action was just not sufficient," said a senior government official.
The official added that the DPCC member secretary was required to personally appear in court to file challans against offenders. "On such days, he spent his entire time in court and that took a huge toll on other work," he said.
Since in the previous order manufacturing was permitted within the city limits, these bags finally made their way to local markets. "There was also confusion regarding the kind of plastic bags permitted. In the previous ban, bags of 40-micron thickness or more and biodegradable plastics were permitted. But since there is no way of measuring thickness or assessing the plastic without sending the bag to a laboratory, we decided to impose a complete ban," he said.
The ban is also likely to be more effective this time, say sources, because it is a government initiative and not due to the high court's orders which brought about the 2009 ban. "The previous ban was imposed since civic agencies were unable to handle the city's municipal waste problem. The court said since they couldn't handle the waste, they should ban the problem issues, one of which was plastic. Now that the government is acting on its own intent, implementation should be better," said Bharti Chaturvedi, director of NGO Chintan.
Around one lakh people are directly employed in manufacturing of plastic bags and a few lakh more in selling and distribution. However, barely a fraction of them are recognized by the government since only 200-300 of the nearly 4,000 manufacturing units are actually authorized. The remaining are located in unrecognized industrial areas and function without a licence from the state pollution control board.
Expectedly, the ban has met with heavy criticism from the traders' associations, who said the government did not take their concerns into account.
"The matter is already in the Supreme Court and only the final hearing is to take place. Why was the government in such a hurry to bring about another proposal? Now that the cabinet has cleared this ban, we will appeal to the SC to conduct final hearing in the case as soon as it can," said Ravi Agarwal, chairman of the environment committee of the All India Plastic Industries Association.
Agarwal said when the draft notification for the ban was issued, the high court had said that the government will not be allowed to implement it for a week from the date of notification. "We will approach the HC in this matter now," he added.
The ban on manufacturing is what is pinching the industry. "The earlier ban rendered thousands jobless but at least the industry in Delhi did not shut down. Around 4,000 carry bag manufacturing units are functioning across the city and once the market was closed to them, they had started supplying to neighbouring states. Now, even this option has been closed," said Taresh Singh, a trader.
"Lakhs of people will lose their jobs but the government seems to have given them no thought. We will take a representation to the chief minister and ask her to constitute a task force comprising the industry and government officials to work out alternatives to plastic and formulate a rehabilitation plan," said Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary, Confederation of All India Traders.
Times View
This ban likely to be more effective
The proposed ban may well be greeted with scepticism given the fate of similar moves in the past. However, there is reason to believe that it might be more effective this time. One key factor is that the executive has initiated this ban rather than being forced by the judiciary into doing so. Also, there are no fine distinctions being drawn between plastic bags of varying thickness, which makes it easier to enforce. We hope, therefore, that this ban will be more effective than attempts in the past. Given the fact that some states have managed to do so, there is no reason why a geographically smaller territory like Delhi should be unable to make it work.
Mangalorean.com
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Oxo-Biodegradable and Compostable bags. . . .
Its The Solution!
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By Goldwin Fernandes [ Published Date: September 7, 2012 ]
In the wake of environment concern today, with
all the hype that the media has given to the so called ill effects the use of
plastic bags have on the environment, the consumers are led to believe that
plastic is an evil to be extinguished. They find themselves in a position of
whether or not to accept or refuse a plastic carry bag offered in a grocery
store, mall, shopping centre etc.
The solution to this is the use of
Oxo-Biodegradable bags. Plastic made from oil , i.e.,conventional plastic
bags used weren't biodegradable,but now can be made biodegradable by adding
certain salts of transition metals. These bags are economical and better for
the environment . They contain salts of cobalt , iron or manganese which are
trace elements required in the human diet and are hence not harmful. These
should not be confused with toxic heavy metals like lead , mercury, cadmium
and chromium which are not used in the manufacture of Oxo-Biodegradable bags.
At the end of its useful life the bag falls apart and completely biodegrades
leaving no harmful residue. And whats more interesting to note is that the
bag does not just fragments, but will be consumed by bacteria and fungi. When
it has reached the stage of fragmentation it is biodegradable in the same way
as that of nature's waste , such as straw and twigs. This process will
continue till the entire bag has biodegraded to nothing more than carbon
dioxide , water and humus . It does not leave any fragments of the bag in the
soil (ASTM 6954-04).
We need biodegradable carry bags today because
tonnes of synthetic plastic waste is entering the world's environment
everyday and will remain there for an extended period of time . Oxo-
Biodegradable bags pass all the usual and compulsory test such as
Degradability, Biodegradability and Toxicity tests carried out in accordance
with the international standards laid down by American Standards for Testing
and Materials (ASTM D6954-04).
One of the benefits of Oxo-Biodegradable bags
is that it can be recycled as part of the normal plastic waste stream. Apart
from that it can be composted (not as per ASTM D6400), left in a landfill to
naturally biodegrade or can be incinerated with energy recovery and be used
as fuel. This goes to show that there is always development in the field of
polymers.
Environmentalists who lack technical expertise
in this field suggest the use of paper bags , cloth bags or jute bags as an
alternative. They are unaware of the negative effect these alternatives have
on the environment. The process of making paper causes 70% more atmospheric
pollution than manufacture of plastic bags . Paper bags use 300% more energy
to produce and the process of making paper uses huge amount of water and
creates a very unpleasant waste . It would take around 7 times the number of
trucks to transport the same number of paper bags creating 7 times more cost
and transport pollution . Besides cotton and paper contributes to greenhouse
gases which are a main factor of the much dreaded global warming. Paper will
disintegrate when wet which is not the same as bio-degradation . Paper bags
are 5 times more expensive .
Oxo-Biodegradable bags are certified as safe
for the environment and for any food contact application . Another important
feature of the Oxo-Biodegradable bag is that it can be programmed to degrade
in whatever timescale required . The average life of the Oxo-Biodegradable
bag is 12months , but shorter periods such as 4 months and longer time
periods can be programmed during the manufacture. During this period the bags
are re-used for shopping , or for use as bin liners etc. This is a popular
choice of material for use in agriculture and widely used around the world.
Long term re-usable shopping bags, be it cloth
or jute or paper is not the answer to our problems. They are much thicker and
more expensive , and a large number of them would be required for the weekly
shopping of the average family. They are not hygienic unless constantly
cleaned after each use . They have the highest GWP (Global Warming Potential)
as per the latest report (Feb 2011) of UK Government Environment Agency -Life
Cycle Assessment of Plastic , Paper and Reusable bags. The GWP of cotton
carrier bag is 10 times more than that of any other carrier bag. Whilst
sometimes called “Bags for Life“ they have a limited life , depending on the
treatment they receive ,and become a very durable problem when discarded .
Shoppers do not always go to the shop from home , where the re-usable bags
would normally be kept , and consumers are unlikely to have a re-usable bag
with them when buying on impulse items like clothing , groceries , CD's ,
magazines ,stationery etc .
If people want to incinerate oxo-biodegradable
products with heat recovery , or recycle them , or re-use them , then that
can be done . The key point is what happens to the bags which is not
collected , and gets into the environment as litter. Conventional plastic
will subsist in the environment for many decades , but oxo-biodegradable bags
will degrade in a short time leaving no harmful residue . It would be
interesting to note that the total plastic consumption is only 6% to 8%of
litter , in which plastic carry bags represent a very small fraction.
The second main type of biodegradable bags is
hydrobiodegradable or compostable bag . The first stage of degradation is
hydrolysis. These materials biodegrade as per the specification 6400.(ASTM
D6400). The life of these bags is about 1 year. The compostable technology is
equally good; but a bit more costlier. The film can be composted in
industrial composting (ASTM D6400) in two months to become manure and in home
composting in 3-4months to form manure along with other organic matter.
When the film is dropped as a litter, the film
starts bio-degradation and the rate of bio-degradation depends upon the
environment it attains. If the film is exposed to water and organic matter
constantly it would biodegrade and become manure. If it is exposed to soil or
water or sewage conditions also it can biodegrade.
For a bag to be tagged as biodegradable they
need to be tested and certified under certain specifications. The
specifications of various countries for Oxo- Biodegradable are U.K. British
Standard 8472, U.S. ASTM. D6954-04, UAE 5009:2009, France French Accord T51-808.
The specifications for compostable bags are EN13432, ASTM D6400, IS/ISO
17088.
There is a lot of litter today, and there will
always be some litter. Hopefully education will reduce the litter problem
over several generations . Action needs to be taken today to switch to
biodegradable bags before millions of tonnes of synthetic waste is
accumulated in the environment . Oxo-Biodegradable and compostable materials
are the new materials. The new age mantra !! . Litter is the careless
behavior of human beings in relation to waste disposal . In the end all that
can be left to say is , nothing is as harmful as our attitude.
About the Author
Goldwin Fernandes B.E., M.Tech, M.I.E.,M.I.S.T.E., F.I.V
Completed Engineering in 1992, then worked as
an R&D Engineer for a brief peroid. He has also 7 years of experience in
the middle East before he returned to India . Since then he has been actively
involved in conducting seminars at all levels and sharing information about
the advantages of using various kinds of Biodegradable Bags and its effect on
the environment.
Material Reference
Oxo Biodegradable plastics - Prof Gerald Scott. Oxo biodegradable plastics- Michael Stephans. Biodegradability of Plastics- Processes & Standards-Prof Gerald Scott. Bioplastics -naturtec |
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