Packaged water maker says PET bottles are 100% recyclable, meet stringent laws by BIS and FSSAI
Bisleri International, India's largest packaged drinking water maker, has said that more clarity is required on the issue of classifying polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles as single-use plastic. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCAs), in a meeting with executives from companies in the water packaging industry, had asked to come up with alternative solutions in three days. This was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for eradicating single-use plastic starting October 02, 2019.
In response to DNA queries, a Bisleri spokesperson said that PET bottles can be 100% recycled and meet all requirements laid down by the stringent laws of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). "However, the BIS description of containers for packaged water mentions water bottles as one-time-use plastic containers. This gives an impression of PET bottles being single-use plastic while they can be used multiple times. In fact, in Europe recycled PET is also used for packaging water," said the spokesperson.
Bisleri said that the minister for consumer affairs had invited the industry to place before him suggestions and concerns for finalising the draft policy on plastics. The minister also asked BIS and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to provide clear definition regarding what is single-use plastic, taking all aspects into consideration. In fact, Bisleri International Pvt Ltd's chief executive officer Angelo George was part of the meeting between MCA and water packaging industry executives.
IN OR OUT?
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- Packaged water maker says PET bottles are 100% recyclable, meet stringent laws by BIS and FSSAI
- The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has asked packaged water players to come up with alternative solutions in three days
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While MCA's three-day deadline got over on Thursday, there is still no word on the alternative solutions or for that matter any clarity on whether PET bottle is in the list of single-use plastic. "The deadline of three days mentioned was for submission of suggestions and concerns, not for coming up with a safe and cost-effective alternative to PET bottles. Also, clarity on single-use plastic definition was sought and the minister advised relevant departments to provide this at the earliest," said the spokesperson.
According to Bisleri spokesperson, the minister had highlighted the environmental concerns regarding plastics and the need to address it during the meeting earlier this week. The minister had sought safe and cost-effective alternatives to PET for packaging water. On their part, packaged water industry participants highlighted 100% recyclability of PET and that more than 90% of all PET produced in the country are being recycled.
"The benefits of PET as one of the safest materials for packaging water, affordability on costs as well as carbon footprint, and the potential for recycling were discussed at length. Alternate materials were evaluated and found wanting in terms of costs and recyclability. Suggestions were invited from the industry for defining the final draft policy," said the spokesperson, adding that all the aspects including consumer needs, environmental issues, regulations and the concerns of the industry were being discussed in the meeting with the minister.
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