Point: Plastics causes acid rain
Counter Point: Acid rain---Plastics;
not the culprit at all.
Point: Plastic bags contaminate water.
Counter Point: Other materials like
metal and glass are also not biodegradable.
Composite containers like plastic coated paper
cups, tetra packs and bricks also do not biodegrade
easily (additional penalty -paper is not recyclable/harmful
leachates). Biodegradation in buried land fills
is a very slow process -- takes more than 15
years. Anaerobic conditions and methanogenic
bacteria, newspapers and telephone directories
have been found in landfills even after 40 years.
Perishable products like waste food, raked leaves
and lumber were found intact in landfills even
after 25 years. Industry has already undertaken
R&D on bio-degradable applications(e.g.
Starch Based Mulching films) in specified areas.
Biodegradation is not economically viable for
most applications.The solution lies in reusing
and recycling plastics into extended life cycle
products.
Point: Plastic wastes are also eco-hazardous.
Counter Point: Plastics are crushable
and highly compatible; they occupy less space
in land fills. Plastic wastes are predominantly
eco-neutral (no leachates to contaminate soil
or ground water.) Plastic wastes contribute
to increasing caloric value of municipal solid
waste for incineration (useful source of energy
89 GJ/T, 20 GJ/T) In W. E. plastics wastes provide
30% of energy generated in MSW recovery plants.
Plastic films and sheets are used for protective
lining of hazardous/chemical landfills to protect
surrounding soil and ground water from serious
contamination. Plastics have become an important
material of construction in environmental engineering.
Point: Paper and cloth bags are better
alternatives to plastics bags.
Counter Point: If plastics bags and
packaging is replaced with traditional materials
like paper, cloth, jute, metal, etc., it would
lead to major penalty on the economic system.
Phenomenal increase in weight of packaging by
300%, volume of waste by 160%, energy requirements
by 110%, cost of packaging by 210%. Hence, there
is no eco-viable alternative to plastics in
modern society. Paper is not eco-friendly. We
need to remind ourselves that making of paper
and paper products consumes a lot of chemicals
and requires a large amount of water, and leads
to severe effluent problems . Besides, paper,
unless coated with polymeric materials or wax,
cannot withstand wet conditions which are widely
prevalent in India, particularly during monsoon
periods. Paper making also consumes a lot of
energy. In the Indian context the most serious
problem is the availability of pulp. Environmental
degradation has unquestionably occurred due
to pulp manufacturing activities such as commercial
forestry. How eco-friendly is paper? Globally,paper
is the 5th largest consumer of energy-- 10%
of all industry energy consumption and 4% of
world consumption,one of the largest users of
water and one mt of paper (7000-8000 copies
of newspapers) requires felling of 10 to 17
trees. Paper cannot be recycled indefinitely.It
can be recycled to a maximum of 4 times. Recycling
of paper is also energy intensive and requires
chemicals for bleaching and deinking. Rated
medium in biodegradability with associated hazards
like leachates,paper imposes heavy burden on
environment. If we do not ban paper, why ban
plastics? The smaller volume of plastic bags
can help conserve landfill space. Nothing degrades
fast enough to extend the useful lives of modern
US landfills:not paper, not plastics, nothing.
30 percent less material is used to produce
today's plastic bags than the bags made just
5 years ago. Compared to paper grocery bags,
plastic grocery bags consume 40% less energy
than paper. (1.34 million MJ vs. 0.58 million
MJ for 1 million bags).Plastics generate 80%
less solid wastes, produce 70% fewer atmospheric
emissions, release upto 94% fewer waterborne
wastes.
How eco-friendly is cotton ?
Growing Cotton: Cotton is one of the
most chemical intensive crops,it contaminates
soil and ground water and requires intensive
use of fertilizers and pesticides.
Processing Cotton :Involves bleaching,
dyeing, mercerizing, anti-felt finishing, water
proofing, silk weighing. Auxiliary agents, Washing
or reuse, contaminated effluents, synthetic
dyes are not bio-degradable, biodiabolic and
40% remains as waste. Heavy metals like cr,
cu, cd enters the food chain: released by clothing,
when worn and is absorbed by the skin,detergents,
solvents. When you wear cotton, you also wear
toxins.
How eco-friendly is jute ?
Retting -Leads to water pollution, air
Pollution.Has an adverse effect on biota (e.g.
fish culture). Microbes, Organic Acids, methane
Gas, High water demand.
Batching -Requires use of batching
oil,which leads to contaminated product / content,
odor, toxic effluents, not suitable for food
products.
Bleaching - Requires of chemicals,which
leads to contaminated Effluents/ Water.
Air Pollution - Releases particles/fiber
dust, airborne toxic metals and microbes. Affects
workers Health (Bisniosis).
Jute processing has an adverse impact on environment.
Point: Plastics deplete resources.
Counter Point: Plastics conserve resources.
Plastics is the most resource efficient packaging
material . It has the highest product - package
ratio.
To pack
500 G of Coffee |
Packaging Material |
Packaging Material Weight |
Glass |
500 gm |
Tin |
130 gm |
Plastic |
12 gm |
Point: Plastics are major sources of
solid waste problem.
Counter Point: In developed economies
with disposable life-style (e.g. W.Europe) plastics
contribute small amount to solid wastes.
To
pack 500 G of Coffee |
Total solid waste : |
2.8 Billion Tonnes |
Plastic Waste : |
16 Million Tonnes |
% to total solid Waste : |
0.6% |
Municipal solid Waste: |
137 Million tons |
Plastic in MSW : |
11 Million Tons |
% Total MSW : |
8% |
Point: Ragpickers find thin guage plastic
bags unviable to collect, causing problems in
disposal.
Counter Point: Along with The Ministry
of Environment & Forest (MOEF),the industry
has taken initiative on the following: Increase
the thickness of virgin carry bags to minimum
thickness of 20 microns (vs 5 microns at present),
increase the thickness of recycled carry bags
to minimum thickness of 25 microns. Increased
thickness/weight will provide adequate economic
incentive to ragpickers to pickup waste bags and
channel them into the recycling chain which is
well established. Plastic bags are already recycled
into useful products like barsati films and mats.
Point: Plastic bags have no reuse.
Counter Point: The thick guage bags
are retained by consumers for multiple secondary
usage over an extended period of time. Thereafter
they are collected and recycled into very useful
products like barsati films, nursery bags, etc.
For very thin bags, industry has already agreed
to increase the minimum thickness to make reuse
and recycling viable.
Point: Plastic bags are manufactured
by 10,000 unregistered units.
Counter Point: The number of jhabla
bag manufacturing units have been highly exaggerated.
In Maharashtra, registered and unregistered
units total 1000. Maharashtra is a major centre
accounting for almost 40% of entire production.
On all India basis, this number does not exceed
2500 units. The total number of plastic processing
units (all types) in the country is only 13,000.
Plastic processing units play a vital role in
the national economy, besides major contributions
to the exchequer.
Point: Plastic bags are produced in most
unsanitary conditions.
Counter Point: Virgin plastic bags are
manufactured by high quality organized units
whose quality products are also exported to
developed countries like Germany and USA. Recycled
jhabla bag manufactures are in tiny, cottage,
small and unorganized sector. There is a need
for the government,MOEF,local authorities to
provide adequate infrastructure like recycling
zones and parks with common effluent treatment
facilities.The industry is committed to upgrade
technology for better products and working conditions
through ICPE. Industry is willing to work with
local authorities in setting up central recycling
plants and parks. Let us support industry and
enterprise. Let us not kill it by misconceived
ideas.
Point: Plastic bags choke drains in monsoons
resulting in floods.
Counter Point: The root cause of chaked
drains is dumping of all types of waste by the
public into open sewers and drains. Plastic
bags form a minuscule percentage of the dumped
waste.
Point: Plastics are a major source of
solid waste problem.
Counter Point: In developed economies
with a disposable life-style, plastics contribute
only 8% by weight to Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).
The rest consists of organic matter, paper,
wood , metal glass etc.
Plastics Waste -- the Indian
Dimension
|
World
------India |
Lowest
per capita consumption |
18
kg |
1.8 kg |
Highest
plastic recycling
(Industrial & Urban) |
15-20%
|
60% |
Plastic
in solid waste stream lowest |
7%
|
0.5-4% |
Inspite of low waste volumes,the industry has
taken initiatives on recycling. |