HYDERABAD: Use of all
plastic bags — below or above 50 microns in thickness — is harmful for the environment, cautioned members of the city’s green brigade, on the eve of International Plastic Bag Free Day observed on July 3.
Referring to the large-scale use of these bags across malls, supermarkets and other commercial establishments, they said that the ‘unhealthy’ practice has been kept alive only to protect the interest of plastic manufacturers.
As per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 bags that are above 50 microns thick are legally allowed to be used.
“But irrespective of the thickness, any plastic is harmful to for the environment. Setting a parameter, pertaining to plastic, is only a way to protect plastic manufactures. Political will is needed to curb this use of plastic,” said environmentalist, Prof K Purushotham Reddy. At present, even as many stores have switched over to paper bags, there are scores of others that continue to hand out plastic covers — some of them customised with the name of the brand printed on them — for a small charge of 5.
Environmentalists fear that improper disposal of these bags can have adverse impacts. “If bags are not disposed carefully or not recycled, they can be as harmful as the banned plastic carry bags,” said BV Subba Rao, another environmentalist from the city.
While acknowledging the concern, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials said that making Hyderabad free of single use plastic is work in progress.
“It is not possible to achieve it overnight. To immediately replace plastic bags with paper, we need to cut a lot of trees and that against environmental laws. The government needs time to switch to cotton or jute bags,” said a top GHMC official.
Plastic continue to flourish supermarkets