PLASTICS & THE ENVIRONMENT

Presentation by
VIJAY MERCHANT
Chairman ENVIROPLAST COMMITTEE Plastindia Foundation

IPI 2 Day Conference Jan 2002  Mumbai

 INTRODUCING PLASTICS

Whether it is the modern city of Mumbai or Delhi or the

small town of  Baramati or Dundigal or for that matter
Jhumri Taleja or Medhak the  people in each of these
places have extensive use  for products of  plastics. It
could be the tiny cell phone, the large  TV cabinet, the
music cassette, the farm water pipes, the fertilizer sacks or
even the wind turbines for non conventional energy,
plastics touch each ones life somehow everywhere in India
in this century.
 HOW IT IS ACTUALLY MADE & IT'S WIDE
VARIETY & APPLICATIONS

Plastics can be made from oil, natural gas, coal and derived
from salt. There are more than 50 different types with their
own characteristics and depending on how the raw materials
are processed, the products from which they are  made can
become as light and flexible as cling film or as tough as a 
large water tank. You can make toys and you can help build
automobiles or rockets or even helmets.
The unique qualities that have made plastics so popular
primarily are durability, light weight and resistance to
moisture, chemicals and decay.
.
 IMPROVED STANDARD OF LIVING RESULTS
IN GREATER USE OF PLASTICS
As the population of the world has  kept growing  the pressures on
materials to service the various needs of mankind have obviously been
increasing year after year. To meet the various needs of a few billion
people the demand for materials is huge be it housing, medicare,
packaging, communication or even water management or agriculture.
Thanks to the ingenuity of the chemical engineers and scientist in the
West, that after World War-II they have provided all of us one of the
most versatile and environmentally friendly raw materials to cater to a
diverse range of needs of mankind and to cater to numerous sectors.
It is natural that as the standard of living of people go up they start 
caring more about their own and their families health, hygiene &safety
this is a  natural step in man's need hierarchy.
.
 CONCERNS OF SOCIETY-
WHY THE  MEDIA GLARE

Since the  last 4 or 5 years people in India are reading about and
hearing some of the concerns being aired about the environment and
besides the pollution of air and water there is almost every week a
comment on solid waste  & more  particularly on plastics waste which
causes a nuisance to municipalities both because of  clogged drains &
gutters & because it reportedly flies about in public places and with it
carries dirt and grime and creates an ugly sight.
However the main reason why they have come under media glare is
because of post consumer plastic waste, specially those used for
carrying or packaging thousands of daily use products  Some how due
to carelessness  or indifference remnants of used packs/ bags in India
tend get littered all over the streets & public places catching the eye
of  every passer by, young or old, rich or poor.
.
 INDIAN SCENE COMPARING WITH THE WORLD

In India where we are still far behind the world average per capita
consumption of plastics of 18 kg per head annually, almost 45% of
the plastics processed, which is close to 1.5 million tonnes, finds
it's  application  in  packaging. Be it food  products, grains, cement
or even cosmetics, toiletries, electrical goods etc. The primary
reason being the uniqueness of  chemistry that the properties of
plastics can be tailored as per the needs of the products to be packed
efficiently and  economically. Plastics in reality, if you take the
cradle to grave assesment are extremely environmentally friendly
materials and this is accepted by scientists, economists   and the
learned the world over as also in our country.
.
 PLASTICS PACKAGING PREVENTS COLLOSAL
WASTE TO SOCIETY

Today with technology we can protect most of the items traditionally

packed in paper, tin, steel  or glass at much lower total  cost using 
plastics. Plastics prevent the product from damage or dust or
moisture, germs, or pests or even help to enhance shelf life by
providing barriers to retain flavors &  fragrances. Even carbonated
drinks or beverages remain fresh with  appropriate  plastic
packaging. In short plastic packaging help prevent waste or decay of
hundreds of products and thereby protect our environment as well
besides they cut down drastically on transport cost of   products and
thereby also protect our environment from vehicular pollution. 
Despite all these virtues which make plastics serve  our needs,  there
is still a feeling amongst millions of citizens that plastics are a
nuisance and a burden on environment as they   see post use waste
not speedily cleared in public places or even in waste dumps. .
 MANY VIRTUES OF PLASTICS BUT PEOPLE
HAVE NOT SEEN IT THAT WAY

If you were to scientifically assess the contribution of plastics to  society and
compare it with other traditional materials like Tin, Steel,  Aluminium,
Paper, Cloth, Glass etc one would realize that plastics are in  fact the most
energy efficient and environmentally friendly  materials of the century. It’s
applications have evolved over years as per consumer’s needs and due to
economic necessities and not due to fancies or  fashions. The truth is that
Plastics serve to protect our environment in many ways but millions just do
not know this, as their uses are taken for granted .Plastics also serve in
hundreds of medicare applications saving lives and restoring humans after 
accidents or calamities whether it is a heart valve or a knee implant, a
disposable syringe or a dialysis machine  Since plastics are Light weight but
Tough, Durable, & Easy to form, they enable manufacturers to minimize the
raw materials used, save on energy consumed & cut down waste generated
in the production of goods, ranging from automobiles to coffee cups and
milk pouches  or shampoo sachets to giant water tanks.
CONSEQUNCES OF LIFE WITHOUT PLASTICS
Could you imagine a day in your life without single use of plastic
products ?. It could lead ecological & economic crisis. If  for a moment we
decide that in India, which is the largest milk economy in the world, we 
stopped the use of milk pouches and get back to either loose vending of
milk by the milkman or revert back to glass bottles.  Not only would the
price of milk to the masses shoot up , but it would also  and the huge cost of
transporting them all over would be a huge drain on the energy needs and a
hygiene concern.  Similarly  there would be the crisis  created if we stop the
use of plastic packaging for edible oils & revert back to tin containers or
sale of loose oil & vanaspati with all its dangers of adulteration and
contamination. If we were to revert back to wood for furniture and bottle
crates, when today  we need 50 million plastic chairs and 15   million bottle
crates annually, perhaps we would wipe out 20 million trees in 10 years if
we stopped the use of plastics for just   two of these uses. The damage to
our environment could be colossal and unimaginable.
The shift from Polybags for grocery packings of salt, sugar, foodgrains
detergents etc. to paper bags would mean raising  the energy consumption
100 per cent, the  burden on water resources for production 20 times &
increase the waste  generation almost 4 times.All this would mean further
burden on environment.
 CONCERNS OF MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT
& DIALOGUE WITH INDUSTRY
When the Ministry of Environment  Govt. of India set up a National Task  Force in 1997/98 to
tackle the municipal plastic  waste handling  problems and expressed concern that local bodies
were struggling to manage new composition of  waste in cities, as a responsible industrial sector
the plastics  industry accepted to join in the national efforts for a cleaner,   better India. The
plastics industry helped in clearing up several myths that all products of plastic were causing
nuisance post  use and by dialogue with local authorities zeroed down on the exact items of
plastic which were the real concern post   use in India. This helped the Pollution Control Board
officials realize that  thin guage polybags were the primary cause of waste   disposal problems
and policies and rules needed to be directed to minimize this sectors waste nuisance. The plastics
industry   agreed to assist in improving our waste  management systems with better
communication ,technologies and management.The  20 micron limit on manufacture and sale of
these thin vest bags was a joint decision of the  environment ministry with industry
representatives after considerable debate and deliberations nationwide. While some states are
working towards implementing  this notification and taking industry support in making a success
others have still to rise to the needs of putting the   organizational machinery in place to make it
work by joint efforts of all parties connected with it.
 WHY WAS ICPE FORMED BY THE PLASTICS
INDUSTRY
 In 1999  we  formed the ICPE - Indian Centre for Plastics in the
Environment ,which is a trust totally funded by our industry to do social
good and help society benefit by use of plastics at the same time help in
tackling   the waste management problems of local bodies and assist in
resource conservation which actually makes a nation more   competitive.
ICPE has  initiated projects with NGOs, Municipalities, Schools and
Housing societies and at the same time also funded  research projects to
get more & more  from plastic waste. At the same time ICPE showed
how by joining hands  with all concerned bodies we can reduce dry
waste going into landfills and get more good quality recycled useful
products for   mass uses. The advantage of a multipartite arrangement
was effectively demonstrated in 6 months of working for a social
problem.
INITIATIVES OF ICPE TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE
The plastics industry has explained to the authorities that merely
because the post use waste is not handled intelligently you   cannot
ban the entire packaging .The restrictions of 20 microns on polybags
have been worked out so that while thicker bags   can help perform
the function and be reused and  the tendency to discard them after
single use as being worthless can be curbed and polybags   get back
in our recycling chain. Total ban of polybags  could be like banning
electricity  because when wrongly handled  it can   kill a man with a
shock or it would be like  banning cars because a jay walker gets
hurt being hit by a vehicle. The solution lies in understanding the
problem first, identifying the solutions, communicating effectively
to bring about social change. This  social change demands
tremendous effort backed by conviction and cannot be brought just
by legislating in a democratic state.

Contd….
INITIATIVES OF ICPE TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE
For us in India it has meant working towards changing littering habits,
explaining  the value of resource conservation  by  waste segregation, 
thereby facilitating more & more recycling of post consumer waste. We
have demonstrated that  this is possible by  bringing in recyclers to
support our national cause and motivated rag pickers to work   with
discipline to earn more. We have created a win win situation for everyone
in the chain as plastics unlike other materials  are 100% recyclable and
the cleaner the waste the better the value for all..However the challenge
before the industry & people is tremendous because ours is a very large
country with the 28 states & thousands  of cities & towns but since we
are  committed to protect the environment we are confident over the next
few years this will definitely bring about the desired change in our
society. We  as an industry in India want to continue with new
developments & ensure better quality of life  by intelligent use of plastics
due to their versatility ,cost effectiveness  and eco friendliness.
 A COMMITMENT FROM AN INDUSTRY THAT IS
RESPONSIBLE & CARING

The Indian Plastics Industry is making a statement  and  accepting

that it has a  role to play  in society for  improving our environment
and conserve resource by helping  increase recycling of all materials
going in the waste streams. The plastics  industry accepts post
consumer waste is a problem and we want to be a part of the
solution. The industry believes we must  as a responsible sector
minimize the burden on mother earth to serve the basic needs of our
citizens by getting more out of   less so that we can leave the world
in a better  condition than what we inherited from our forefathers in
the earlier century.