Three weeks after the ban on 14 single-use plastic items kicked in across Tamil Nadu, the government has cracked down on all multilayered plastic material used to pack items like biscuits, creams and shampoo. Ninety five companies have been issued notice, saying they will not be able to market their products packaged with such material in the state until they regsieter with the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and comply with clause 13 (2) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, within a month.
The order, issued by TNPCB chairman Shambhu Kallolikar on January 22, has set the companies the near-impossible task of owning responsibility for after-use collection and disposal of the packaging material in coordination with the urban local bodies concerned.
The rules mandate the manufacturer and the brand owner to register with the state pollution control board if operating in less than two states and with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) if operating in more than two states.
The CPCB defines multilayered packaging as any material used, or to be used, for packaging and having at least one layer of plastic as the main ingredient in combination with one or more layers of material such as paper, paper board, polymeric material and metalized layers or aluminum foil, either in laminate form or a coextruded structure.
In general terms, it means polyethylene, aluminum foil and other copolymers of polyethylene combined with paper, plastic and other items. A TNPCB official said, “As per the rules for selling and marketing, they need to get valid registration. All these companies are violating that norm. We have issued notices even to companies using tetrapacks and PET bottles as they have also been brought into this ambit. Apart from these 95 companies, we will issue notices to others as well using multi layered plastic.”
The companies issued notice include Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, Dabur India, Bikaji Foods, Bisleri International, Britannia Industries, Pepsico India Holdings, Reliance Industries, Britannia and Co, Aachi Masala, Sakthi Masala, Amul Dairy, Everest Limited, Parle products, MTR Foods, AAVIN and Cadbury India. The 95 companies, which have been directed to apply and obtain registration from the CPCB or TNPCB in a month, should furnish the TNPCB with details of suppliers/sellers of multi-layered plastic products.
They should coordinate with the United National Development Programme India to work out the Extended Producer’s Responsibility (EPR) in line with the Tamil Nadu model. “This model was discussed with associations of brand owners at a three-day meeting from January 7 to 10. The minutes of the meeting have been sent to the secretary for further orders,” said an official. Under the EPR, producers will be responsible for introduction of plastic in the market and managing it until the end of its life.
B Swaminathan, chairman of environmental committee, Tamil Nadu Plastic Manufacturers Association, said, “How can EPR be framed without urban local bodies involvement? The municipal administration and water supply department should provide infrastructure and cooperate with the brand owners. Industry cannot be part of it unless it is discussed and all the departments are involved. It is very premature to discuss all this and ban all these products,” he said.
Source: Times of India
