Ban on plastic bags goes nowhere

NT NETWORK

Panaji

The local plastic manufacturing industry said the ban on plastic bags is not working in Goa, as plastic bags of below 50-micron is used widely in shops and markets.  

The local industry, comprising 15-odd units manufacturing plastic bags, on Tuesday, said that tonnes of bags of below the permissible micron arrive illegally in the state everyday from Hubballi, Kolhapur and nearby cities.

“Trade of these plastic bags is totally unchecked, and sales are to vendors, shops and establishments. Furthermore, with the availability of cheap plastic bags of below 50-micron, shopkeepers are hardly interested in switching to an environment-friendly alternative,” said stakeholders in the local industry.

Speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’, Jutex’s managing partner Parag Joshi said that local units are finding it difficult to withstand the competition posed by the illegal transportation of plastic bags in large quantity into the state.

 “The Goan units manufacturing bags above 50-micron are stagnating as the demand for their products is low. The main consumption is of below 50-micron which is cheaper,” Joshi explained, adding that the state lacks equipment for checking plastic microns.

He pointed out that even the soft bags being sold in the Panaji fish market as non-plastic is actually plastic since it is

manufactured from polypropylene.

According to a plastic unit owner at Old Goa, the ban on plastic bags will be difficult to enforce.

“Last year, the organisers of the Vasco Saptah had said that it would ban plastic bags, but at the end of the Saptah festival a large quantity of discarded bags were found in the garbage. Similarly, in Maharashtra also a ban was implemented for some time but now plastic bags are freely available. If the government cannot enforce a ban it would be better to accept plastic and enforce the above 50-micron rule,” said the unit owner.

He claimed that units are badly affected by the anti-plastic feeling because of which their production is crashed after the demand plummeted.

Under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, all panchayats and municipalities in the state have resolved to ban plastic bags below 50-micron.

The Taleigao panchayat recently implemented the rule and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 for shops using plastic below 50-micron.

The local plastic bag manufacturers claimed that they manufacture only plastic bags above 50 micron.

The government is unwilling to listen to their complaints of illegal bags arriving into the state because plastic is categorized as non-environment friendly material, they said, adding that plastic above 50-micron can be used in landfills, and the biodegradation takes place gradually.