The plastic ban on 14 items has come in to effect in Tamil Nadu. Many plastic manufacturers and associations have sought exception, but soon the government will start slapping fines on violators.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government is all set to fine manufacturers and traders who violate the ban of 14 plastic products that comes into effect from January 1. Tamil Nadu has been studying the models of various states including Karnataka to form a strategy to combat the use of plastic.
Though the ban on plastic is in effect, the fines cannot be imposed immediately. Once the order comes in, maybe in a day or two, a notice will be issued and then fines will be imposed.
On June 5th last year the Tamil Nadu government announced a ban on one-time use plastics, irrespective of their thickness. The Chennai Corporation asked residents to surrender banned plastics.
Under the model followed by Karnataka, the Bengaluru Municipal Corporation charges a fine of Rs 2 lakh for a first-time offence and Rs 5 lakh for every repeated offence for manufacture of banned plastic items.
There are 14 banned plastic items in Tamil Nadu. While this seems like a major step it only constitutes for five per cent of the total plastic manufactured in the state.
However, there have been appeals for exemptions from the ban.
The Tamil Nadu Hotels association have demanded that food grade plastic covers should not be banned as they would find a lot of problems in packaging food and liquid items. They have asked for an extension of six months so that they can find alternatives.
The Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers limited has also asked for exemption for plastic coated paper cups as they use a food grade low-density polythene to create a liquid barrier. They complained stating that no other state has banned paper cups. The state has not banned tetra packs though even though they constitute a higher percentage of polythene when compared to paper cups.
The Tamil Nadu Packaged Drinking Water Manufacturers Association (TNPDWMA) which has sought an exception on the ban on water packets claim that the water packets are well above 50 microns, while the government order clearly states that only plastic below 50 microns is banned from January 1, 2019.
Environment secretary, Shambhu Kallolikar was reported saying that the Madras High court is looking to phase out plastic of any kind. “The next is multi-layered plastic, the shiny paper for ready-to-eat snacks,” he said.
The Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018, mandates that manufacture of non-recyclable multi-layered plastic be phased out in two years.
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