With the State government redefining the ban on single-use plastic, the Kozhikode Corporation has stepped up alert against the use of compostable plastic carry bags. The move comes in the wake of finding several products that pass off as compostable plastic flooding the market.
Good results
The implementation of the ban was carried out effectively by the health wing of the Corporation in the early stages.
It earned good results as most supermarkets and merchant outlets got rid of disposable polythene and polypropylene bags and the public learning to carry cloth bags with them.
“The implementation has sent a clear message to the public. We noticed that the number of plastic carry bags collected by the sweepers has been cut down to 10%,” said Corporation Secretary Binu Francis.
However, the ban had excluded compostable products in the first phase, which earned the products a sudden mileage among the merchant community as they were found to be a perfect alternative for plastic bags. However, investigations revealed that many of the products that pass off as compostable were in fact non-biodegradable. It lead to the ban on compostable products last week.
The Corporation recently held a meeting of merchants, requesting them to abandon compostable products as well. The merchants’ request for three months’ reprieve to get rid of the stock was denied. “The merchants had stocked compostable bags as it was allowed in the earlier phase of the ban. They asked for time, but we cannot allow it. The inspections will resume soon and even compostable products will not be spared,” said Mr. Francis.
Food packaging
Meanwhile, a recent meeting of the State-level task force on plastic ban has called upon manufacturers of food products to convert their packaging to compostable plastic before April 2, 2020.
They are also to take steps to compensate for the pollution they cause, by taking back their packaging as their extended producer responsibility.