Telangana government's plan on plastic ban may hit two lakh jobs, warn manufacturers

Plastic industries association claimed that the Rs 15-crore industry may suffer losses of 10 to 15 per cent and suggested increasing thickness of plastic to 75 microns to aid recycling.

Plastic bottles displayed at a conference on recycling organised by the Indian Institute of Packaging in Hyderabad on Friday

HYDERABAD: While the Telangana government is mulling a ban on single-use-plastic in the State, the plastic manufacturers in the State claims that a complete ban will disrupt several manufacturing units and lead to the job loss.  

 At a meeting in October 2019, Chief Minister (CM) K Chandrasekhar Rao had directed State officials, including the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), to prepare guidelines to ban plastic use and production of plastic goods in Telangana. 

The State’s plastic-processing industry has over 7,000 units and an annual turnover of Rs 15 crore, according to the Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTAPCCI). Speaking to Express, Anil Reddy Vennum, a member of All India Plastic Manufacturers’ Association (AIPMA), said, "The industry that employs around two lakh people will be badly impacted if the government will not carefully weigh the impact of the ban on single-use-plastic leading to industry slowdown."

“As plastic is used for packaging many commodities, we are sure that the State government will not come up with a complete ban on single-use plastic,” added Vennum. Single-use-plastic, which is less than 50 micron in size, cannot be recycled. “Instead of a complete ban, the government should increase the thickness limit from 50 microns to 75 microns. Then these plastic products can be re-used and recycled,” said Vennum. 

He added that the ban will not solve the problem as there are no proper alternatives for plastic that are feasible and affordable.  If there will be a ban then the FTAPCCI along with other plastic manufacturer associations, will seek an exemption from the ‘ban’ on Multilayered Plastic (MLP) products such as woven sacks and carry bags, says Vennum. 

"We are not against the environment and as industries, we are also looking for alternatives. We will request the government to exempt a few products until we come up with an alternative, as that could disrupt supplies of key products such as biscuits, salt, and milk," said Arun Luharuka of FTAPCCI.

He added that the ban will hit the annual turnover of the plastic industries by 10-15 per cent. “As of now there is no clarity on what the government will identify as single-use-plastic, which is very confusing, but we are expecting proper guidelines on the ban.”