AMC doesn't know where and how to discard 10 tonnes of seized plastic bags

Under the Plastic Handling And Waste Management Act, the civic body has banned usage and selling of plastic bags under 40 microns. Civic officials often carry out drives to seize banned bags, and over the years, they have collected around 10 tonnes of such bags. It is stored at an unknown location.

The civic body used to dump the plastic waste at the Pirana dumping site, but that has not been done for a while! As a result, the waste is lying somewhere unused. "The quality of plastic is not so good, hence we can't recycle it," said Dr Bhavin Solanki, medical officer in charge of health, AMC. "It can't be used for road making either. We are thinking of discarding it. We had discussed this with some experts to figure out a way to dispose the waste. But nothing has been materialized so far."

Solanki said that there had been a change in the attitude of people about plastic usage, however, he admitted that plastic bags were still in use. "People still prefer to get a free plastic bag while shopping. People need to change this habit and carry recyclable, reusable bags," he added.

Provision of Penalty

Under the Act, there is a provision of imposing penalty of up to Rs 50,000 for producing and trading or distributing banned plastic bags in the city. AMC's Health Department imposes a penalty of up to Rs 50,000 on the manufacturers of such bags. The fine for wholesale traders handling such bags ranges between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000 – Rs 10,000 for 1 tonne; Rs 20,000 for 1 to 5 tonnes; Rs 50,000 for more than 5 tonnes.

THE ACT:

In accordance with a notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the AMC had enforced a ban on manufacture and trade of plastic bags below 40 microns on January 1, 2012.