The Hindu Business Line : Plastic bags ban in Maharashtra: Panel report in 15 days

THE Maharashtra Government may consider using tetra pak for milk in view of the forthcoming ban on plastic bags in the State, said Mr Ashok Chavan, Industries Ministers, Maharashtra.

Mr Chavan said the State Government has formed a committee to study the implications of the ban and would submit its report in 15 days.

The committee will consist of bureaucrats, members of the plastic manufactures association and plastic experts. It will be presided by the Maharashtra Industries Commissioner.

On the likely impact of the ban on the plastic industry and the ancillary business, Mr Chavan was non-committal.

The likely ban on plastic bags has evoked a mixed response from the environmental lobby.

According to Ms Almitra Patel, a Bangalore-based environmentalist and member of the taskforce on electronic waste, Central Pollution Control Board, banning plastic bags is not a viable idea.

"If milk is distributed openly and not in plastic bags, then it is very easy to adulterate. Open milk is also a carrier of many harmful microbes. There are many ways of recycling plastic," Ms Patel said.

Milk bags are made from virgin plastic, which is in great demand in the recyclers market. It fetches Rs 15-18 per kg. Therefore, the Government must try to recycle rather than ban plastic bags.

A few dairies in Bangalore have started a pilot project of `reverse distribution' by which the dairy offers half a litre of milk in exchange for 25 empty milk bags. Sell or swap should be the mantra for plastic, Ms Patel says.

What can be applied to milk bags can also be applied to bread wrappers and other small bags. In Ireland and the US, there are many take-back schemes for plastic and other recyclable items, and the experience has been positive, she added.

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