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A Programme on “Environmental Management Capacity Building Technical Assistance Project”,Sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

INDIAN CENTRE FOR PLASTICS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

MANAGEMENT OF PLAST ICS ,POLYMER WASTES AND

BIO -POLYMERS AND IMPACT

OF PLAST ICS ON THE

ECO -SYSTEMVolume 4 • Issue 4 • Oct.–Dec. 2006For Internal Circulation only

Plastics Recycling –Economic & Ecological OptionsRecycling of plastics is known to be in practice sincethe initial days when the industry started more than100 years ago. The main driving force in the initial stagewas mainly economics. The plastics waste was toovaluable a product those days to throw away as the basicraw material was too expensive.

The situation has since changed. All round benefits ofplastics materials made it a first, or sometimes, the onlychoice for designing various products of short or longtime application. This has led to phenomenal increasein the consumption of plastics worldwide in the recentyears.

The increased use of plastics products, about 50% ofwhich go for packaging applications alone and henceare discarded immediately after using the content hasincreased the quantity of plastics in the solid waste streamto a great extent. Recycling has now assumed greatimportance in the context of solid waste management.Of course, the point about not throwing away value inplastics waste is still relevant.

Recycling of plastics, unlike in the initial days, has theoption of selecting its input leaving a large chunk ofplastics waste, which are difficult for recycling, fordisposal in the landfills or simply allowed to remain inthe surroundings, especially in the third world ordeveloping countries.

The new technologies and economics have come toplay an important role in plastics recycling. When wetalk about recycling, it principally refers to Recovery,which is divided into Material Recycling and EnergyRecovery. Material Recycling is again divided intoMechanical and Feedstock Recycling. The choicebetween Mechanical Recycling, Feedstock Recyclingor Energy Recovery will depend on the types of plasticswaste and the relative ease / difficulty in total or partialsegregation from other plastics and / or other wastematerials.

When there is no State intervention, plastics are recycledonly when the sum of all the costs for collection, sortingand treatment does not exceed the marginal profit. If,however, the State or the Society sets ecologicalpriorities, for example conservation of resource or spacein landfills, this may mean dealing with volume of wastethat is uneconomical from the commercial point of viewof a single operator. This may make it necessary to levywaste disposal charges, which have to be charged eithercollectively or individually. In principle, the systemcorresponds to a situation in which disposal chargeshave to be paid both for landfill and incineration.

While determining economic boundary conditions ofplastics recycling, it is necessary to make a distinctionbetween:• Mechanical Recycling to the same or similar

applications• Mechanical Recycling to new areas of applications• Feedstock Recycling to form different products

– conversion to monomer– fuel– reducing agent in blast furnace for the productionof iron– gasification– liquefaction

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• Incineration and energy recovery– cement kilns– incineration for powergeneration

Cost of Mechanical RecyclingMechanical Recycling includes awide var iety of processingtechniques and a broad range ofprocessing methods. Since recycledplastics materials return to theplastics market, where they partlyreplace virgin material, the price ofrecycled plastics is oriented to theprice of primary material, with acertain reduction due to qualitystandard. The reduction is normallyaround 50% to 60% of virginmaterial. Mechanical Recycling isworthwhile lower the necessarytechnical input. Pure gradeproduction scrap may only have tobe reground and recompounded,mixed plastics have to bemechanically separated and, ifcontaminated, also elaboratelywashed and cleaned. All these stepsincrease the cost depending onthe degree of contamination.A comparison of cost variationin Mechanical Recycling has beenput as:

• 0.50 point scale for homogeneousclean waste.

• 1.00 point scale for homoge-neous contaminated waste, and

• 1.50 point scale for heteroge-neous contaminated waste.

Worldwide, Mechanical Recyclingis the most preferred and acceptedmethod of Plastics Recycling.

Cost of Feedstock RecyclingThe quality of waste, which can beused in this recycling system, isdifferent from that required byMechanical Recycling. WhereasMechanical Recycling requireshomogeneous, clean and dry wastebefore processing stage (mostlyextrusion), complicated mixtures ofplastics waste can be recovered byFeedstock Recycling withoutproblem as long as the waste can bemechanically fed to the system andthe waste is free from somecontamination / hazardoussubstances, to avoid complicationsin specific systems. The cost ofFeedstock Recycling even in thebest case of large-scale plants maybe similar (as high as) to the cost forincineration and energy recovery.

Successful examples are availabletoday utilizing waste plastics as areducing agent in the blast furnaces.NKK Keihin Works in Japan arealready using 40,000 tons of plasticswaste in blast furnace along withcoal as reducing agent tomanufacture pig iron. As per report,the company has plan to use1 million tons of plastics waste

annually as raw material for blastfurnace by 2010. StahlwerkeBremen, Germany also used plasticswaste for steel production. Thoughsome additional cost is incurred forpreparing the plastics waste forinjecting into the blast furnace, thereis a benefit of lesser use of carbonfor the reduction reaction due to thehydrogen available in the plasticswaste (apart from carbon). This isimportant today from the GlobalWarming point of view and theoperator in a developing country isable to cash on the Carbon Credit.ICPE is discussing the option withmajor steel manufacturers in India.

The recovery of plastics for use asfuel is an attractive option. This hasbeen suggested as a means ofdisposing of plastics waste especiallythe mixed and multilayered /laminated plastics waste, which arenormally difficult or costlier forMechanical Recycling. In principlethe calorific value of plastics, whichin the case of polyethylene is as highas that of crude oil, can be fullyrecovered by burning. However, theuseful energy that can be used islimited by several factors and ismuch less than its calorific value.Studies have shown that ifpolyethylene is burnt in anincinerator and the heat energygenerated is used to produce steamfor further use for central heatingsystem or for other purpose, fromthe original 45 MJ of energy in theinput polymer, only 15 MJ or 33%is available for heating, whereas 80%recovery has been reported in thecase of fuel.

An Indian scientist of Nagpur hassuccessfully demonstrated theproduction of industrial fuel fromplastics waste including commingledplastics waste in commercial scale.The company is doing well as perthe financial report available fromthe banker, which financed theproject.

Recovery

EnergyRecovery Composting

MaterialRecycling

MechanicalRecycling

(Reprocess as Polymer)

Feedstock(Chemical)Recycling

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Cost of Incineration and EnergyRecoveryAfter collection of the portions thatcan be recycled by mechanicalrecycling, there remains numerousvery small, heavily contaminatedarticles or cross-linked products orproducts contaminated withhazardous substances. The best wayof reutilizing these portions is toincinerate them instead of dumpingthem diffusely on landfills. Thisrecovers their calorific values.Separate incineration in high-efficiency plants is possible ifsufficient amounts are produced orcollected separately. Incinerationplants to handle hazardoussubstances / plastics wastecontaminated with hazardoussubstances are designed separately,mainly for disposal purpose. Heavilycontaminated plastics wastecollected from domestic wastestream can be utilized by energyrecovery from waste incinerationplants. Cost of this system ofrecovery is considered highestamong all the alternatives.

When considering incineration asan option, it is to be rememberedthat waste incineration plants are notoperated with the aim of producingenergy. The main purpose is andremains to reduce the volume ofwaste to a considerable degree bymeans of incineration in anenvironmentally-friendly manner. Itis, however, logical to combineenergy recovery with incinerationwhenever possible consistent withenvironmental requirements. Plasticswaste contains calor ific valueequivalent to fuel. The wasteincineration plant Frankfurt / Mainuses about 6-7% plastics waste alongwith normal MSW, generating 27MW of electricity.

Incinerator design and operationdepends upon the type of waste tobe incinerated. Non-adherence tothese two basic principles caused

ser ious failures of var iousincineration activities in the 80’sraising doubt about the effectivenessof this process itself. However,subsequent adoption of properdesign and appropriate operationafter careful analysis of the waste,have again brought back thereliability of incineration as one ofthe best options of hazardous wastetreatment.

Whichever form of recycling ischosen the whole process cansucceed only if an efficient solidwaste collection mechanism is putin place at the first instance. The taskagain becomes much easier withsegregation of waste at source.Massive public awarenessprogrammes with the help of NGOsand concerned citizen groupsbacked by a sound municipal wastecollection and transportationmechanism is of urgent necessity.The plastics industry particularly theusers of plastics materials such asretailers and packers will have toshare part of the burden in creatingsuch sound solid waste collectionand disposal infrastructure. Thecitizens’ co-operation is vital in thesuccess of this whole programme ofsolid waste management. We needto re-emphasise the virtues of the4 R’s, viz., Reduce, Reuse, Recycleand Recover.

From the overall environmentalbenefit point of view, recycling, inspite of its costs, is preferable to otherdisposal methods like landfill. Thereis a need for Government inter-vention / support for encouragingrecycling. This may include:

• Providing basic infrastructure likeLand, Power and Water at subsi-dized rate at identified areas,which may be called RecyclingParks in each big city. Biggercities may have more than onesuch park.

• Common Effluent TreatmentPlants in such parks.

• Tax benefits to recycling units.• Duty relief for import of high

technology recycling plant.• Mandate for purchase of recycled

products for specific non-criticalapplications in GovernmentDepartments, Educational Insti-tutes, etc.

• Subsidy for purchase of specificrecycled products like schoolbenches, railway platformbenches, etc.

From the part of industry, moreefforts are needed for developingbetter machines and technology forrecycling in the similar fashion as itis done for the development ofvirgin plastics processing machines.Product designers of many plasticsproducts can assist in designing theproduct in such a way that it can bedismantled for ease of recycling.Automobile Battery, Hybr idSteering Wheel and many otherautomobile components areexamples of such products. It is thusdesired that the first time to thinkof recycling is not when wasteproduct accumulates, but right at thestart of the designing / developmentprocess.

Investment in this sector will yieldrich dividends in the coming days.Worldwide, Recycling Industry isattaining more and more attentionfrom the entrepreneurs andinvestors. It is reported that world’srichest woman is a recycler fromChina (US $ 3.4 billions). This setsthe future trends in PlasticsRecycling as an Industry.

A sincere and scientific approach toplastics waste management andrecycling by all the stakeholders, viz.,industry, consumers and theGovernment can achieve the goalof sustainable growth withoutdamaging environment.

(Based on studies by ICPE andpublished mater ial by var iousinternational institutions/organizations.)

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Website hits forApril-December, 2006

Months HitsApril : N.A.May : 44,488June : 54,265July : 43,590August : 55,239September : 58,141October : 72,791November : 48,351December : 44,541

Record of Hits of ICPE-ENVIS Website:(www.envis-icpe.com and www.icpeenvis.nic.in)

ICPE website continues to attractthe visitors in large numbers.

‘Hits’ record of the website fromApril-December, 2006 is givenbelow:

The statistical analysis of the visitoractivities is available both from WebStat and from NIC Server forreference. The analysis shows that themajority of the visitors are seriousin nature and spend more than halfan hour on the website. Details ofthe statistics are available for studyand reference.

Hours Accessed

Time period Hits

5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 6,4526:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 5,6524:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. 5,6057:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 5,17512:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. 4,53311:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. 4,2483:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 4,2401:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. 4,1012:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 3,44410:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 3,26012:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.* 3,06610:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. 2,9639:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. 2,7098:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. 2,5918:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 2,55011:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. 2,3629:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. 2,1021:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.* 1,5655:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.* 1,2812:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.* 1,2224:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.* 1,0463:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.* 1,0447:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. 1,0406:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. 814* Indicate overseas Hits

Most Accessed PagesDocument Views

/index.html 399

/biodegradable_plastics.htm 265

/lifecycle.html 258

/recyclingprojects.html 242

/newsbank.htm 215

/wastemanagement.html 175

/resourceconservation.html 165

/polyvinyl_Chloride.htm 155

/Overview_plastics.htm 155

/mythsnrealities.html 151

Day Hits

Monday 14,733

Tuesday 14,309

Thursday 10,897

Wednesday 9,802

Sunday 9,029

Friday 7,731

Saturday 6,564

Weekend (21.3%), Weekdays (78.7%)

Proactive Campaign on Plastic Recycling

A multinational advertising agency TBWA India hadapproached ICPE with a proposal for a jointAd Campaign in pr int media to propagateawareness on Plastics Recycling. It was clarified bythe ad agency that they required ICPE’s associationas a responsible leader in the subject area andthey sought ICPE’stechnical help for thepreparation of the admatter. It was furtherclar ified by theagency that therewas no financialimplication to ICPEas the agency, as apart of their

corporate responsibility, would bear all the cost for theAwareness Advertisement.

Technical assistance was provided to the agency andtwo such ad campaigns have already been published inthe print media under the theme – ‘Let’s Recycle’.

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ICPE officials with the prize winners at LSR College.

Students at the ICPE stall at Green Fair 2006.

School Programmes

Lady Sri Ram (LSR) College, New Delhi

An awareness programme was conducted at Lady Sri

Modern School,Vasant Vihar, New Delhi

ICPE participated and conducted an awarenessprogramme in the Annual Green Fair 2006 organisedby Modern School on the 22nd November, 2006.

The educational panels of ICPE and the banner weredisplayed. Copies of the awareness booklets ‘It’s MyWorld’ and ‘Point-Counter Point & Frequently AskedQuestions’ were distributed among the school children.Copies of recent editions of newsletter – Eco-Echoeswere displayed and handed over to the teachers, schoolfaculty and interested parents. The film – ‘Living in theAge of Plastics’, Cartoon film for children of ICPE andthe ICPE film on plastics recycling were being shownin continuous loop. Some of the publications of ICPEand folders made of recycled plastics were also displayed.

Ram (LSR) College on November 1, 2006. Theprogramme was conducted in the seminar hall of the“Prakriti” Eco-society.

The students were briefed on the various applicationsof plastics, its benefits and waste management andrecycling of plastics. This was followed by screening ofthe film ‘Living in the Age of Plastics’. Thereafter, aquiz contest was held and prizes were distributed forthe top 3 entries. Mementos of ICPE were awarded tothe best 10 entries. Copies of the booklets ‘Point-Counter Point & Frequently Asked Questions’ and some

latest editions of Eco-Echoes newsletter weredistributed.

The visitors were very appreciative of ICPE’s efforts inwaste management and anti-littering and the gooddisplay of educative material.

Ramnarain Ruia College,Matunga, Mumbai

Centre for Slum Studies, a project run by the College, organizeda ‘Waste Day’ on 22nd December, 2006 in collaboration with BMCand ICPE, where the students in different groups were encouraged tocollect plastics waste from their houses and localities and deposit thesame at a centralized place within the college premises. The prizeswere distributed to top 3 groups who collected the most quantity ofthe waste. ICPE organized for waste dealer, who collected the PlasticsWaste from the college for onward forwarding to the Recyclers.

The exercise created awareness among the students who realized thevalue of the plastics waste. ICPE sponsored the project by donatingRs.5000 to the college.

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Solid Waste Management (Segregation) Projects in Mumbai Wards

Weight (kg) Value (Rs.)

2003

2004

2005

2006

Plastics2,17,161

Non-Plastics4,06,483

Non-Plastics9,40,766

Plastics14,19,759

Plastics2,46,323

Non-Plastics6,15,803

Non-Plastics14,59,680

Plastics18,39,997

Plastics2,47,606

Non-Plastics6,08,189

Non-Plastics13,10,823

Plastics18,67,152

Plastics3,54,083

Non-Plastics9,13,668

Non-Plastics21,81,697

Plastics

60 Rag Pickers

80 Rag Pickers

Average earning per Rag Picker Rs. 5,066/- p.m.

Average earning per Rag Picker Rs. 4,582/- p.m.

26,81,733

A comparative assessment of the segregation activitiesin selected Mumbai Wards for the last 3 years wasprovided in the Activity Report submitted during last

EC/GC Meeting held on 2nd September, 2006. Thesegregation figure for the year 2006 is given below:

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ICPE Participation inIndplas ’06

Kolkata – November 24-27, 2006

Indplas ’06 – International Exhibition on Plastics washeld from 24th to 27th November, 2006 at Kolkata.

The exhibition was jointly organized by Indian PlasticsFederation (IPF) and Plastindia Foundation (PIF) andwas supported by plastic industries at the local andnational level.

ICPE was allotted a Covered Space of around 2800sq.ft. free of cost. A special enclosure was created withinthe stall by ICPE for screening Awareness Films. Thisbecame the main attraction of ICPE Stall. ICPEStall emphasized the importance of Recycling of Plasticsdepicting selected panels of Recycling Pavilion ofPlastindia 2006. Various samples of recycled plasticswere also displayed.

The organizers arranged for visits of school childrenespecially to ICPE Stall in an organized manner. Morethan 2500 school children from about 20 local schoolsvisited ICPE Stall and viewed the film – ‘Living in theAge of Plastics’. Teachers who led the school childrenappreciated the film and admitted that they could realizemany facts about plastics and the real problems ofMunicipality Solid Waste Management and its solution.Each student was given the following AwarenessBooklets:

• It’s My World- Imaginationfor a Cleaner Environment

• Point-Counter Point& Frequently AskedQuestions, mostly in Bengaliand English

• One page pamphlet on Two-Bin Culture

Adult visitors also viewed the ICPE Film keenly andcollected ICPE booklets. There was good response fromthe business community, who wanted to take plasticsrecycling as business activity.

The ‘Point-Counter Point’ bookletswere printed in local language. It wasalso assured that arrangement wouldbe made to translate the content ofeach panel in the local language at theplace of exhibition.

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Ms. Mangala Kadam, Mayor of Pimpri & Chinchwad MunicipalCorporation, inaugurating Plasto 2006. Mr. Ajay Desai, AIPMAPresident is seen extreme left, Mr. Sujit Banerji is seen to her rightalong with others.

ICPE official explaining the benefits of plastics recycling to theMunicipal Commissioner, Pimpri & Chinchwad.

ICPE Participation in Plasto 2006Pimpri, PuneDecember 21- 24, 2006

The Exhibition was organized by Association for thePromotion of Plastics (APP) and Pimpri – ChinchwadPlastics Association, supported by the All India PlasticManufacturers’ Association, (AIPMA) and MaharashtraPlastic Manufacturers Association, (MPMA).

ICPE had demonstrated the panels on Recycling anddistributed the awareness books and newsletters. ICPEprocured pencils made out of recycled polystyrene by aPune-based company, Galaxy Pencils and distributedthose among the school children and other visitors.

ICPE’s Awareness Films were screened in continuousloop in a specially made hall with a seating capacity ofaround 100 persons. Large number of visitors viewedthe films with keen interest.

ICPE had also sponsored a live demonstration ofRecycling of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) by a localprocessor, Mane Electrical. The live demonstrationcreated awareness about the recyclability of EPS amongthe visitors.

Mr. Sujit Banerji, President, Polymers and Olefinsand Head-Integrated Research & Technology, RILand Executive Secretary / Member, ExecutiveCommittee, ICPE, was present during theinaugural ceremony of the exhibition anddelivered the keynote address.

Excerpts of Mr. Sujit Banerji’s speech atthe Inaugural Ceremony of Plasto 2006

Average consumption of plastic per person inIndia is hardly 4 kg as compared to 20 kg in theWestern countries. In India, there is an increasingdemand for plastic in automobile sector, agriculturalsector, etc. Currently there is about 7 million tonnes ofproduction of plastic goods in India which will growup to 12 to 14 million tonnes in next 5 years and willgenerate employment for 18 million youngsters in theallied industries.

The new generation should take the maximum advan-tage of the growing opportunities in the Plastic sector.

Right now, USA and China have the maximumconsumption of plastic in the world. However, in thenext few years, India too will consume plastic on a largescale.

With the development of technology for recycling ofwaste plastics, there will be maximum use of plastics inall sectors in the next 15 years.

With systematic planning, there will be market for27 million tonnes of plastic and polymers within ourcountry itself.

Pune Municipal Corporation have developed a roadon experimental basis by using geotextile fabric onPune-Daund Road and since last four years, there hasnot been any damage to this road. Taking this intoaccount, this experiment may be carried on at Pimpri-Chinchwad area also.

Mr. Sujit Banerji delivering the keynote address at the inauguralceremony.

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Concern about plastics rubbishgoing to landfills is based on the factthat they degrade very slowly. Amore fundamental issue is thatplastics disposal represents a wasteof a valuable, non-renewablepetrochemical resource.

There are four options available atthe end of a plastic product's life:mechanical recycling, chemicalrecycling, energy recovery and land-fill. In New Zealand, landfill is theprevalent destination for plasticproducts, with 18% of plastic pack-aging now being diverted throughpr ivate and public recyclingoperations.

Why Bother to Recycle?• resources, including non-

renewable raw materials, areconserved,

• it reduces landfill requirementsand costs,

• the use of recycled material usu-ally means less energy is neededthan that used to produce virginplastic,

• it provides new opportunities andnew products,

• it increases employmentopportunities.

There are three main streamsof plastic recycling inNew Zealand:1. kerbside PET (1) and HDPE

(2) collections of householdwaste,

2. commercial collection ofcommercial films (shrink andshroud wrap),

3. in-house plastics recycling bymanufacturers.

How are plastics recycled inNew Zealand?The material collected by territo-r ial author ities and recyclingcompanies is used for mechanicalrecycling. This process involves:

• material collection – the plasticsdestined for recycling need to becollected; this may be from amanufacturing site, a commercialoperation seeking to dispose ofbulk packaging, such as palletwrap, "drop off" points at schools,or from houses, from a kerbsidecollection,

• transport to the recyclingcentre,

• sorting into types that can bere-processed together, and either,

• baling for export, or

• cleaning to remove dirt and othercontaminants. Normally this isdone by cutting the plastics intosmall flakes and putting theseflakes through a washing anddrying process,

• the flakes are then melted andextruded (squirted) into thin linesand then chopped into granules,

• reuse – the granules, orpellets, can then be used to makenew plastic products.

PET (1) is exported in bales to bereprocessed to Australia, China and

Asia. Most HDPE (2) and commer-cial film is being reprocessed here.

To increase plastic recyclinghere, Plastics New Zealandencourages:

• advanced design to facilitaterecycling,

• labelling products with thePlastic Identification Code toaid sorting and collecting,

• selecting packaging materials ableto be recycled,

• using recovered recycledmaterial in their products,

• promoting and educating theircustomers and the public aboutthe environmental and socialbenefits of plastic and plasticrecycling,

• stimulation of new markets toensure an end-use for recyclate,

• investment in new technologiesto support material recycling andnew techniques.

Other Types of RecyclingInnovative techniques in theenergy recovery and mater ialsrecovery areas are beginning toappear in Europe, the US andJapan. While the relatively smallvolumes of recyclable material avail-able in this country may make suchdevelopments too expensive toestablish here, the local industrycontinues to monitor, investigateand commit resources to seeking atechnology, or technologies, thatwould be applicable to the NewZealand situation.

(Source: Plastics New Zealand,www.plastics.org.nz)

Recycling of Plastics –Initiatives in New Zealand

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Anti-littering Awareness & Demonstration Campaign

Kolkata – November 20th-26th, 2006

Week-long city-wide “Anti-Littering Awareness &Demonstration Campaign, first in Kolkata, was organisedby Centre for Quality Management System, JadavpurUniversity, jointly with Indian Plastics Federation (IPF)and Paschim Banga Viggan Mancha (PBVM).

Awareness campaign was launched by Hon’ble Mayor Mr. BikasRanjan Bhattacharyya, Mr. Sudeep Banerjee, Chairman, WBPCB,Mr. Faiz Ahmed Khan, MIC, Solid Waste Management, KMC,are also on the dais.

Our ‘Wealth from Waste’ Campaign.

Awareness Programme.

ICPE participated in the week-long Anti-litteringAwareness & Demonstration Campaign in Kolkata from20th-26th November, 2006. ICPE had provided thebasic designs and text materials for the Hoardings andPanels showcased during the campaign.

In his address, the Hon’ble Mayor of Kolkata emphasisedthe responsibility of the citizens and civic bodies forproper Waste Management. There was no untowardcomment against plastics in general. However, in ananswer to the press, he admitted that the Authoritiescould not effectively implement the 20-micron rulefor the plastics carry bags.

In a conversation with the Mayor, he was made awareof the ICPE’s proposed trial for use of all types of low-end plastics waste in Cement Kilns and Blast Furnaceand the opportunity of cleaning up of all plastics waste,which was not picked up by the rag pickers. It wasmentioned to him that ICPE was finding it difficult tocollect about 200 MTs plastics waste (low-end) requiredfor the trial. He offered his cooperation in such a drivefor the collection of low-end plastics waste.

National Workshop of ENVIS CentresSimla, Himachal Pradesh, October 12-14, 2006

The second National Workshop of all the ENVISCentres was organized by the ENVIS Directorate ofMinistry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) at Simladuring October 12-14, 2006, in association with theHimachal Pradesh State Council of Science, Technology& Environment. The panel of experts, appointed by theMinistry evaluated the performance of each of the 75ENVIS Centres of the country, 30 of which were ofGovernment Departments/Regulatory bodies. ICPEENVIS Centre team compr ising Mr. T. K.Bandopadhyay, Coordinator and Mr. Sanjay Punjabi,

Senior Programme Officer, made presentation to theExpert Panel. The Members of the expert panel weresatisfied with the progress made by ICPE ENVIS Centre.They were specifically impressed with the number of‘Hits’ recorded and ‘Queries’ attended by ICPE ENVISCentre. However, there is a need for improvement inthe overall design of the website to match the qualityof the technical information contained in the site. MoEFDirectorate were informed that ICPE ENVIS Centrewas on the job for redesigning of the website.

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Questions & Answers in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabhaof Indian Parliament on Plastics and the Environment

RAJYA SABHA

Power Generation from Urban Waste

Unstarred Question No. 2038Answered on 11.12.2006

Shri Dharam Pal Sabharwal :

Will the Minister of New and Renewable Energybe pleased to state:

(a) Whether it is a fact that the drains falling in townsand rural areas are filled up with plastic fuel,polythene wastages and they create problems tothe drainage system;

(b) Whether the Government are considering todevelop hi-tech technology for generation ofenergy from these wastages on national level;

(c) If so, whether Government undertakings, andprivate multinational companies have takeninitiatives in this regard; and

(d) If so, the details thereof and what is the progress inthis regard?

Answer:

Shri Vilas Muttemwar, Minister of State for theMinistry of New and Renewable Energy:

(a) Indiscriminate littering of plastic material alongwith other garbage and the absence of organisedsegregation creates problems for the drainagesystems in towns and rural areas. Several initiativeshave been taken by the Ministry of Environment& Forest to discourage littering and to promoteproper collection, segregation, reuse and recyclingof plastics, including notification of RecycledPlastics Manufacturer and Usages (Amendment)Rule, 2003, and Hazardous Wastes (Management& Handling) Amendment Rules, 2003.

(b), (c) & (d)No, Sir. However, a Nagpur-based Professor claimsto have a catalytic process for conversion of plasticwaste into liquid fuel. On the basis of a detailedscrutiny carried out by the Scientific AdvisoryCommittee of the Ministry of Petroleum andNatural Gas, the proposal could not berecommended for further research and/or funding.

ICPE has since received a query from the Ministry ofFertilizers & Chemicals, Department of Chemicals andPetrochemicals for ICPE assessment of the development.ICPE has sent feedback of current activity of the unit tothe Ministry, based on the informations alreadydisseminated in ICPE Newsletters – ENVIS,Aug.-Dec. 2004 and Apr.-June 2005.

LOK SABHA

Effects of Plastic Bags

Starred Question No. 362Answered on 18.12.2006

Smt. Jayaben B. Thakkar :

Will the Minister of Environment and Forests bepleased to state:

(a) Whether the government has assessed the adverseenvironmental effects of plastic bags;

(b) If so, the details thereof;(c) Whether some States have put a ban on the use of

certain types of plastic bags;(d) If so, the details thereof and the extent of success

achieved in this regard so far;(e) The concrete steps proposed to be taken to ban

the plastic bags all over the country; and(f) The alternative that have been proposed / suggested

for use in place of plastic bags?

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Answer:

Shri Namo Narain Meena, Minister of Statein the Ministry of Environment & Forests

(a) to (f):A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Statement Referred to in Reply to Part (a) to (f)of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 362 tobe answered on Monday, the 18th December,2006 regarding “Effects of Plastic Bags” bySmt. Jayaben B. Thakkar, M.P.

(a) & (b)Plastic bags are made of polyethylene (long chainhydrocarbon). Plastics are generally chemically inertand so used for the manufacture of a large numberof consumer items including bags, personal careproducts, in packaging food stuff, medicine, and childcare products, etc. A monograph entitled “Plastics forEnvironment and Sustainable Development” waspublished in 2003 by the Indian Centre for Plasticsin the Environment, Mumbai, and the CentralInstitute of Plastics Engineering & Technology,Chennai, an autonomous institution of the Ministryof Chemicals & Fertilizers, which comprehensivelyassesses issues concerning Sustainability of Plastics asmaterials and their impact on the Environment.However, the indiscriminate littering of plastics andenvironmentally unsound recycling practices have thepotential to cause adverse impacts on environmentand health.

(c) & (d)The Government of India has notified the PlasticsManufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 amended 2003under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Asper these rules, manufacture, stocking, distribution,or selling of carry bags made of virgin or recycledplastic which are less than 20 x 30 cms in size and 20microns thickness is banned. These rules also prohibituse of recycled plastic bags for storing, carrying,dispensing or packaging of food stuffs. Further unitsmanufacturing carry bags or containers made ofvirgin and recycled plastics are required to registerwith the concerned State Pollution Control Board(SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee (PCC).

Please refer to the Box Item in the ENVISNewsletter, July-September, 2006 in which this wasmentioned. Details of query and complete answer isgiven here.

As per information made available by State PollutionControl Boards, the States like Maharashtra, Punjab,Chandigarh, Kerala, Meghalaya and Goa have laiddown stricter norms that prescribed with regard tothickness of plastic bags, i.e., 50, 30, 30, 30, 40 and40 microns respectively. The State of HimachalPradesh has banned carry bags made of non-biodegradable material of thickness less than 70microns and size less than 30 x 45 cms. Further theStates of Gujarat, Orissa and Goa have banned use ofplastic bags in certain religious and tourist places likeAmbaji, Dakor, Somnath in Gujarat, municipalarea of Puri and Konark in Orissa and someimportant tourist spots in Goa. The concernedState Governments and the Union Terr itoryAdministrations are monitoring the implementation.

(e) & (f)There is no proposal with the Government of India,at present to ban use of plastic bags all over thecountry, consider ing the volume of plasticsconcerned, size of the plastic industry and nonavailability of cheaper substitutes. Cloths, jute andbags made of paper wherever applicable, areconsidered as alternatives in place of plastic bags.With a view to identify successful approachesfollowed by some of the States for the managementsof plastics, the Central Government is closelywatching the emerging situation.

For further information contact :

Indian Centre for Plastics in the EnvironmentKushesh Mansion, 2nd Floor, 22, Cawasji Patel Street and48/54, Janmabhoomi Marg (Ghoga Street), Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.

Tel.: +91-22-2282 0491 / 0496 • Fax: +91-22-2282 0451 • E-mail: icpe@vsnl.net

Website: www.icpenviro.org • www.envis-icpe.com • www.icpeenvis.nic.in