Will launch stir if ban not lifted, say plastic manufacturers

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 24

The Plastic Manufacturers’ Association said if the ban on plastic bags was not lifted by the state government, then the plastic industry in Punjab would be ruined. Members of the association said they were ready to cooperate with the government, provided that steps were taken to combat plastic-pollution by recycling plastic bags, instead of banning them altogether.

An emergency meeting, led by Gurdeep Singh Batra, president, Plastic Manufacturers and Traders Association, Punjab, was held today. The members said there were around 4,000 plastic manufacturers in Punjab, out of which, 2,500 functioned in Ludhiana alone. “The plastic manufacturing factories will face closure if the ban on using plastic bags above 50 microns is not lifted. In any other state, no such ban exists. It is only in Punjab that this ban has been imposed,” rued Batra.

The members also complained that raids had become a common routine these days. The staff from state departments, including the Health Department, PPCB and the police, raided shops and confiscated other material as well. The state government has failed to tackle the problem of waste management and no proper policy is being implemented to curb pollution. Banning plastic bags will serve no purpose, rather it would ruin the industry, added the members.

They even threatened that in case the ban was not lifted and harassment stopped, then in the days to come, the plastic manufacturers would resort to a peaceful agitation. The manufacturers stated that though plastic bags were banned in Punjab, yet many shopkeepers had been procuring them illegally from other states. Instead of ruining the industry, a meeting should be arranged to find viable solutions to curb plastic-pollution, the members said.