Post ban, 160 tonne of plastic has returned

BMC contribution just 10 tonne ; total collection fraction of material in circulation: Activists.

A little over a month since enforcement of the plastic ban on July 23, only 160 tonne of plastic — a fraction of the material in circulation, say activists — has been collected in the city. And even this collection is largely thanks to ragpickers.

The BMC has managed to get only 10 tonne from its 60 collection centres, and ragpickers 150 tonne. During rainy days alone, 5 tonne of plastic was collected.

The civic body has also not been able to recycle the collected plastic as there is no recycler in the city. Officials said they have asked ward offices to auction plastic.

Prior to the ban, the BMC had 36 waste segregation centres. It set up 24 more in the run-up to the clampdown. The highest collection came from Andheri West (8 tonne), followed by Bandra West (1 tonne), Dadar-Parel (560 kg) and Malabar Hill (391kg).

Acivic official admitted that the bulk of the work was done by ragpickers. “They have been doing this for years, even when the ban was not in force. Their collection includes all kinds of dry waste and not just single-use plastic, which is banned. At our collections centres, plastic bags and polystyrene or thermocol were deposited in large quantities.”

Undeterred by its “low” collection, the BMC has called the ban a success. “It has changed the mindset of the end user. People have switched to paper and cloth bags. So the ban has been very effective,” said Kiran Dighavkar, nodal officer of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

He also justified that 10 tonne translates to a massive collection. “Plastic is light. So, 10 tonne of plastic bags is a huge quantity.”

Many environmentalists, however, cautioned that “a lot of plastic” is still lying in homes.

“Almost all supermarkets have switched to paper bags and the use of plastic bags has reduced considerably. But there has to be extensive study on how much plastic was in circulation and the impact of the ban,” recommended environmentalist Rishi Agarwal. “We must also ascertain if switching to paper bags or any other single-use disposable material is actually environment-friendly.”

This alleged resistance to return all of the plastic could be because the end user — the common man — has not been fined as yet. “We have fined only shopowners and manufacturers so far,” said Dighavkar.

Anyone found hoarding plastic can be fined Rs 5,000 for the first offence, Rs 10,000 for the second, and Rs 25,000 as well a three-month jail term for the third.

As per civic officials, 11,769 shops were inspected over the past month and fines amounting to around Rs 42 lakh collected from them.

Dadar beach clean-up activist Chinu Kwatra, whose efforts have been lauded by the UN, however, said a change — although slow — is becoming visible.

He said there is less plastic waste being washed onto beaches from the sea. “The ban has had a good impact. There is less plastic littered all over the city now. People have become more aware, and with time, single-use plastic can be eliminated from everyday life,” said Kwatra.