AIPMA holds press meet regarding Ban on Plastics-II

The All India Plastic Manufacturers' Association (AIPMA) established in year 1945 is the Apex Body of Plastic Processing Industry with 2500 members hailing from 172 cities and town across the country. The Association has been interacting with the various Central and State Government bodies on issues related to plastic processing industry comprehensively and supports sustainable developments. Government of Maharashtra announced ban on all types of plastic bags on the 23rd August 2005 and subsequently issued a draft notification on the 13th September proposing ban on manufacturing, trading and using all types of plastic bags citing it is harmful and a major contributor to flooding on 26th / 27th July. We once again state that plastics are harmless for use by all living beings and we object to being held wrongly responsible as the major contributor to flooding. The order would affect common man since almost items of daily needs world over need plastic packaging and would result in closure of almost 2000 units Manufacturing plastic bags and packaging having direct employment of One lakh workers. The industry is seeking the support of media to reach out to public at large to inform them of the implication of such order. By proposing a ban on all plastic bags, Government is diverting attention of public from the real cause non-implementation of Ministry of Environment and Forest's rule and inadequate collection and disposal of ever-growing quantum of garbage. On 26th August AIPMA held a Press Conference responding to the announcement clarifying with relevant details that Plastic Carry Bags should not be made scapegoat for the failure of civic bodies during the floods. At the suggestion of industry the State Industry Minister Shri Ashok Chavan formed a committee inviting representatives form Plastic Industry, Academicians, Technical Experts that held two meetings to gauge the massive economic and social impact of such as drastic order on society. In the meantime a high power committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Shri V. Ranganathan, Retired Chief Secretary (Ex-Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai) with Shri Warade, Director in Environment Department, Dr. Boralkar, Member Secretary, M.P.C.B. and Shri Kishan Mehta, an environmentalist who has a firm opposition to plastic bags. Plastic Industry was very much disappointed as no representative of industry is included in this committee. This is critical not only to represent the interest of the industry but also of consumer at large since the other members of the committee would have limited information on these advanced materials that have substantial contribution to development in various fields. The committee should have representation from industry, scientists and academicians who are knowledgeable in this field. It amounted to that those who are responsible for drafting the resolutions are only supposed to review and dispose of the objections. Our Association lodged a strong protest with the Chief Minister and impressed upon him on the desirability of having representative from the plastic industry. There were instructions, immediately issued by the Chief Minister's Office to the principal secretary and the Environment Department that the President of AIPMA must be taken on this committee. Despite these clear instructions by the Chief Minister on 1st November 2005 the bureaucracy did not act promptly. The special committee therefore left the Industry experts out of all meetings and completed all its meetings and interviews in the matter The FAX communication from the Ministry of Environment confirmed appointment of the President of AIPMA as a special invitee to this committee but even till date the AIPMA representative has not been invited to any of the meetings conducted by the committee as a committee member and drafting of reports is now in progress. We are very perturbed by the indifference of the Department. As a committee member we should be aware of the objections / suggestions given by respondents to the Committee and if they have got all the views compiled to enable us to offer opinion on behalf of the plastic industry and serve the community and the state. The Central Government notification of 2003 specifies sizes of carry bags and their use for packing of food items was positively a balanced one. When the issue of carry bags was addressed in past the Industry sat with the government and heard all the views and agreed the ban on use of plastic carry bags below 20 microns to provide a viable solution to overcome the littering habits of citizens and promote recycling in a sustainable way. The Plastic Industry has come forward with the proposal of printing / self embossing on every carry bags the details of the manufacture certifying the size and thickness and thus ensuring the use of plastic carry bags of 20 microns and above only. This will help stop flow of lower thickness carry bags entering the market enabling users to be aware in the matter. We are sure this will positively help government to regulate the use of plastic carry bags. The Association continually promotes awareness and intelligent use of scientific data and facts in the community. The forthcoming programme by AIPMA an National Essay competition for students from 12500 schools all over the country and the subject is " Plastics a boon or bane in the 21st Century". This will also help to serve better understanding and awareness Ajay U. Desai President