THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fifty days after enforcing a ban on single-use plastic, the state government has come out with a revised directive to bring in more clarity and effectiveness for its execution. Plastic/plastic coated leaves that are used extensively for serving food at weddings and other functions have been banned. The ban has also been extended to plastic sapling bags and plastic-coated cloth materials used in hoardings. In the case of carry bags, those made of compostable materials and paper bags having plastic coating have been disallowed. Only cloth and paper bags can be used now.
“The state is the first in the country to enforce a ban on single-use plastic. But, the ban also resulted in the entry of large quantities of fake compostable carry bags in the market. That’s why the ambit of the ban has been extended to carry bags made of compostable materials also,” said an officer of the Environment Department.
The directive prepared based on the meetings of the task force constituted to take up various issues or suggestions during the imposition of the ban on January 28 and February 4 was released last Sunday. Some of the major stipulations included in the new directive include bringing straw-attached products and other such items that are part of branded product packing and are exempted from the ban under the purview of extended producer responsibility; substituting plastic sapling bags with non-plastic materials and testing the authenticity and biodegradability of so-called compostable products in the market at labs of National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and others.
However, the new directive highlights that grow bags and garbage bags made of compostable materials can be used and in the case of collection and segregation of biomedical waste, garbage bags made of compostable materials alone should be used.
“Compostable products should bear the details of the company that manufactures it, the agency that markets it, material specification and other details. It should also bear the title ‘this is a purely compostable product’ written in English and Malayalam,” reads an excerpt of the directive. At the same time, KSPCB authorities said that the enforcement of the ban as well as the implementation of the directive depend much on the local authorities as they will have to implement it in letter and spirit.
PVC-free tag
The major takeaway of the new directive is the instruction to replace plastic-coated cloth material used in hoardings with cloth (plastic-free), paper (plastic-free) and polyethylene material. It has also been mandated that the hoarding prepared using such materials should bear a logo stating ‘recyclable, PVC-free’ along with details of the expiry date, printing unit, and printing number. Also, the printing unit has to keep a register recording the details of the consumer. It will be the duty of the installing agency to remove the banners and hoardings erected in public spaces.