PLASTIC BAN IN INDIA - 1 July 2022

PLASTIC BAN - A RIGHT, BUT INSUFFICIENT STEP TOWARDS SDG TARGETS

India has banned plastic - a set of plastic products - from July 1, 2022.

I recall a lesson from Kerala Pathaavali Malayalam - I think of III grade (1972)! What a coincidence. (Incidentally, it was the year of Stockhholm summit, a watershed in the humanity's approach towards its being on the planet earth. There was hardly anything of that sort discussed ever in the schools.) It was a newly introduced text, I believe. Some very interesting lessons in them were (i) Plastic - where in it was described as a blessing, with its various advantages (ii) on agriculture - but subtly promoting the ideas of green revolution, without ever mentioning that term. Focus was more on adding to the fertility of the soil. Though application of fertilizers was mentioned, what stood out in my mind, then and now, was the reference to 'seema konna' (Glricidia sepium), which was presented as a very good supplement to the soil fertility. (I had never come across this plant before and no teacher bothered to ask the children to go and find one somewhere around or ask someone about it). (iii) Another lesson was on 'cashew fruit' described as the Orange of the Poor (Paavanalute Madhura Naranga)...but after all these years, it has never come anywhere close to be a substitute for orange, and not even a fruit considered worth buying.

I am reminded of these lessons, as today the country has taken a step to ban 19 items of single use plastic (SUP). The lesson described the various blessings of plastic - inexpensive, pliable, flexible, light, durable, keeping things safe by packaging etc.... Indeed plastic was just becoming popular. A carry bag was a very precious and proud possession, usually available only from high end textile shops (like Jose Brothers, Parthas etc. in Kochi), and hence indicative of your family's access to them. You used it very carefully, as a proud possession. The colourful plastic buckets were not yet very popular, or affordable. A household may have one or two of them. Steel (not stainless) buckets were still fashionable. No body ever thought of a plastic chair. The other fancy item was table sheets with pictures of fruits or flowers or food items, usually used for keeping a dining table (if there was one at home) cleaner and attractive. Bread, biscuits, toffees all came in wrappers of oil paper. I still recall those modern bread wrappers, which we used for covering our note books for additional protection.

While, technically, plastic continues to be a miracle find, a great blessing, in effect, it has become a curse for soil health, aquatic health, human health, and planet health. It has come to resemble 'kaalanillaatha kaalam' (the times without Yamraj) a thought-provoking poem by Kunjan Nambiar on the 'importance of destruction of matter (life)! It has come to stay.

To count the blessings: It doesn't get rusted, it can be given any shape or colour. It is light in weight. It can also serve as a check on the exploitation of other natural resources like trees, minerals, metals etc. Perhaps, a major step in its discovery was to save elephants and tortoises!!

But on the other side, it has become a curse and menace. In many of the South Asian towns, literally mountains have been formed from non-degradable plastic waste! It is an eye-sore for the beautiful countryside and hill areas, all across India.

You dig soil - use a spade or an earthmover, almost anywhere in India, you find soil embedded with plastic. It is said to cause soil pollution with gradual degradation of plastics causing leaching of harmful chemical into soil and water bodies. It chokes the soil and prevents the plants from spreading their roots. You check the bottom of water bodies - ponds, lakes and ocean, you find plastic layer. there are thousands of aquatic animals getting killed by consuming plastic materials discarded in the ocean. It chokes the drains, and increase the risk of urban flooding. When they degrade (finally), they breakdown to form micro-plastics which can easily become part of the food chain, causing genetic damages and cancers to all beings. You think about burning it to control it - it gives out noxious gases like hydrogen fluoride in huge quantities, which can increase human vulnerability to cancer.

Now the only focus should be as to how to control the damaging impacts of plastic use - getting rid of plastic from the human life is nearly impossible.

It comes from the Greek word 'plastikos' - it refers to the quality that enables one to 'form', give shape. Among all things, this is said to be greatest advantage of plastic - it can be moulded into any shape. The term had been in use since 17th century to refer to something pliable and mouldable. Liquid nitrocellulose of collodion had been in use for photographic applications since 1851 when Englishman, Frederick Scott Archer invented it. It was said to have been christened thus by the English scientist Alexander Parkes (1813-1890), who chanced upon this possibility in the process of mixing and melting some chemicals in his lab in 1856. He named it Parkesine, and got a patent for it. However, his efforts to produce it on a large scale didn't become a commercial success. John Wesley Hyatt, in 1868, created celluloid out of cellulose and alcholized camphor as a substitute for ivory or tortoise shell in billiard balls. Wallace Carothers brought out nylon in 1935. Real breakthrough came when PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) was patented by two Calico Printer's Association employees John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson in 1942.

Plastic, as we use it now, is produced from petroleum: the process in brief is as follows:

(Ron Pleasant, 2016. https://inbound.teamppi.com/blog/oil-to-plastic-a-lesson-on-how-plastic-is-made)

• First, the petroleum is drilled and transported to a refinery.
• Crude oil and natural gas are refined into ethane, propane, and hundreds of other petrochemical products, including the petrol and diesel we use to run our vehicles.
• Ethane and propane are "cracked" into ethylene and propylene, using high-temperature furnaces.
• A catalyst is combined with ethylene or propylene in a reactor, resulting in "fluff." Fluff is a powder like material (polymer) resembling laundry detergent.
• Fluff is combined with additives in a continuous blender.
• The polymer is fed to an extruder where it is melted.
• Melted plastic is cooled then fed to a pelletizer that cuts the product into small pellets.
• Pellets are then shipped to customers and manufacturers.

India uses 14 million tons of plastic annually, and generates 4 million tonnes of plastic. The waste has become unmanageable to the local bodies, and the indirect impacts have been begun to be felt.

Hence the ban. 19 products of single use plastic (SUP) has been banned nation wide. Items include:

1. ear buds with plastic sticks
2. plastic sticks for balloons
3. plastic flags
4. candy sticks
5. ice- cream sticks
6. polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration
7. plastic plates
8. cups
9. glasses
10. cutlery such as forks
11. spoons
12. knives
13. straw
14. trays
15. wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes
16. invitation cards
17. cigarette packets
18. plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron
19. stirrers

Indeed 19 items. However, the top villains in this regard are yet to be tackled. There is a target to ban carry bags below 120 micron by December, 2022. A ban on carry bags of less than 75 microns effective since Sep 2021, is yet to find implementation.

In Keralam, there is a ban on production, storage, transportation and sale from January 2020 itself. Perhaps, COVID times didn't help. With this, the items banned in Kearlam will also include - With this, the list of banned single-use plastic products in the State includes plastic carry bags irrespective of thickness; garbage bags; non-woven bags, plastic flags and buntings; PET/PETE bottles of drinking water of capacities less than 500 ml; plastic-coated paper cups, plates, bowls, and paper carry bags; plastic/plastic-coated leaves used as plates; plastic packets (use of plastic packets in retail outlets for packing fruits and vegetables; plastic sapling bags; plastic sheets used as table spreads; plastic water pouches, non-branded plastic juice packets; plates, cups, and decorations made of thermocol; PVC flex materials, plastic-coated cloth; and single-use plastic utensils such as cups, plates, spoons, and straw. (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/in-kerala-ban-on-single-use-plastic-from-tomorrow/article65582512.ece)

This list makes sense, and if implemented, can bring about drastic change!! Yet to be seen.

In addition to the legal measure, government proposes other strategies:

(i) EPR - Extended Producer Responsibility to manage what they bring into the market. Buy-back incentives by beverages companies which was prevalent in the US could one such way.

(ii) Targeting MSMEs to bring out more sustainable alternatives to plastic made consumer goods is another strategy.

Strategies that are not proposed, but can make a difference

(iii) But the most important strategy should be that of targeting school systems, to create habits and generate conviction as well as clarification of one's choices/values in this regard. Educational outcome linked to waste generation and consumption practices has to be evolved and realised through schools.

In this regard, the status of teacher community, their awareness level and practices leave much to be desired. They are abysmally low. So it requires components in teacher education as well.

(iv) The next best strategy should be to involve the religious leaders, irrespective of their religion to get involved in the process.

(v) The other strategy would be that of empowering and incentivising the local self governments in this regard. The case study of Indore proves this point.

(vi) There are also more friendly substitutes - plastics which are biodegradable which are beginning to get popular in Qatar, thanks to government initiative.

I suggested to our vibrant Mayor of Kochi that youngsters who are willing to monitor the implementation should be enlisted, trained, and empowered to impose penalty on any defaulters, with proper evidence, and on each such reported violation, the volunteer should be rewarded.