HOLDBrand audit to fix liability for plastic waste

Local bodies and the Suchitwa Mission have taken several initiatives for management of plastic waste, but made little headway. As plastic continues to choke our environment, the idea of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic is gaining ground.

The city will take the lead in holding producers of plastic — manufacturers and those introducing it in the market — responsible for managing the waste generated.

V. Nikhilesh Paliath, mentor with the Green Army volunteer group formed by the Corporation, says Section 17 of the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, makes a provision for local bodies to implement EPR. In the city’s context, however, there are no data available on what brands are consumed the most, the volume of which is maximum, and for which EPR should be considered. To gather information, the Green Army has decided to conduct a brand audit later this month as part of a global initiative being organised in association with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternative.

Audit by students

The idea was born from a brand audit conducted by students as part of a summer camp organised by the city Corporation in April. The audit of products used by children identified companies — both multinational and our own such as Unilever, ITC, Milma, Nestle, PepsiCo — that generated maximum plastic waste.

Taking these findings forward, the upcoming brand audit will cover over 100 households. They will stock plastic waste generated by them till May 23. These include packaging used for milk and curd, flour and batter, provisions, snacks, sanitation and health products, food takeaway packaging, newspapers and cardboard, metal glass, e-waste, and hazardous products.

The problem, Nikhilesh explains, is that plastic is of different types and grades, and each is manufactured for a specific purpose. Some are not easy to recycle. Moreover, though the government has been investing a lot of funds and deploying manpower for managing plastic waste, it does not have scientific technology suited to disposing of different types and grades of plastic.

The audit will help arrive at an understanding of the types of plastic waste generated, and which belong to brands. The idea is to enable the Corporation to ask the top five plastic waste producing brands to take it back and treat it or provide suitable technology and cover the cost incurred by the Corporation for treating it.

The plan is to bring the collected waste to a central location, segregate it, and audit it according to weight, volume and count on May 24 and 25. The audit will be projected live on a screen. The data will be consolidated and the report submitted to the Mayor before June 5, World Environment Day.

Students will be a part of the audit so that they understand about EPR and are pushed to think about buying products with less complex plastic packaging, says Nikhilesh.

Similar brand audits will be held in 10 Indian cities, including Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, and worldwide too.