Environment Management

Group 5 Section AAmit KumarJubin Vora Derrick Vijayan Shalabh Dhankar Vinay Prabhu Vishal Shitut-60

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Plastic Free Kozhikode

Table of ContentsIntroduction 3

Environmental Effects of Plastic 3

Policy Measures in India …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3

Kozhikode District 4

Stakeholder Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….5

Kozhikode district campaign – MAP ……………………………………………………………………..……………………………….7

Phase 1 – Conceptualization……………………………………………………………………………………………………….7

Phase 2 – Discourage Use……………………………………………………………………………..…………………………….8

Phase 3 - Finding Alternatives…………………………………………………………………………….……………………….9

Phase 4 - Processing Plastic Waste ……………………………………………………………………….…………………….9

Case of Himachal Pradesh……………………………………………………………………….……………………….…………………….8

Case of Haryana………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………….9

Other parts of World……………………………………………………….……………………………………………….…………………..11

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….………………..……12 References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13

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Introduction

Environmental effects of Plastic

Although plastic is an inseparable part of human life, it has two major disadvantages: Toxicity - Materials used in manufacturing Plastic are often toxic and Environmental concerns – high durability and very slow degradation.

Plastic is a grey product, it is unsustainable from environmental point of view. Mainly, as it is non biodegradable and due to its slow degradation, disposal of plastic is a huge environmental problem. Actions that can be taken to address such issues are as follows:

Awareness campaigns

Conversion of plastic to fuel

Recycling of plastic

Disposal of plastic

Investments in technology to process plastic to dispose and recycle

Government policies are framed for appropriate use of plastics

Policy and rules enforcement

Research and design to find alternatives

Policy Measures taken in India

The following are some of the initiatives taken up to address plastic waste in India

HP Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 1995 - by the Government of Himachal Pradesh

o prohibition of throwing or depositing plastic articles in public places

o identifiable and marked garbage bins for non-biodegradables

Haryana State has announced a Bill (1997) on Non-biodegradable Garbage on similar lines

Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI

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o The National Plastics Waste Management Task Force - Plastics Waste Management in

India

o Issued criteria for labeling `plastic products’ as `Environmental Friendly’, in association

with the Bureau of Indian Standards

The Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi (BIS)

o Guidelines on recycling of plastics waste

Kozhikode District

The demographics of the Kozhikode district as per 2001 census consist of population of 436,530 with average sex ratio of 1,055 females for every 1000 male. It is the 3rd largest Urban agglomeration in Kerala. Males constitute 49% of the population and while females 51%. 11% of the total city population is under 6 years of age. Kozhikode has an average literacy rate of 92.24% (National Avg.: 59.5%)

Male literacy rate : 96.6% Female literacy rate: 90.6%

In the National Environmental Awareness Campaigns organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, GoI, the maximum number of proposals for organizing environmental activities is received from the States where the literacy rate is quite high.

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Stakeholder Analysis

The stakeholder analysis covers various actors as shown above for the plastic waste

management effort in Kozhikode.

1) Kozhikode citizens : The citizens are using plastic based items especially plastic bags at

an increased rate and on a large scale which is leading to a large amount of plastic

waste.

a. MAP program has ensured a widespread awareness about the perils of the

excessive usage of plastic bags

b. Are concerned about the increasing use of plastic products and its subsequent

perils but are confused about what they need to do

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Kozhikode Plastic Waste Management

District Collector

Kozhikode citizens

Municipalty

Government

Environmentally related

NGOs

Recycling agencies

Plastic bags and other

plastic items manufacturers

Shopkeepers and plastic

bags distributers

2) Municipality : Garbage and plastic waste collecting agents are a part of this and they

have been collecting the waste systematically from the households and transferring it to

common hubs across the city from where it is collected and accumulated at two or three

locations. From here, it needs to be disposed off and till now there has been no clue as

to how to go about it.

3) District collector : He is one of the prominent actors in bringing MAP in action and to

devise a plan to set a plastic waste management system in place. He also is instrumental

in segregating and moving the plastic waste from the city to the outskirts locations with

conjunction of municipality.

4) Plastic bags manufacturers : They are being pressured to manufacture plastic bags with

some minimum required standards (like only above 30 microns) guided by the various

governmental agencies like Bureau of Indian Standards. They are being asked to make

use of recycled plastic to make recycled plastic bags.

5) Shopkeepers and distributers : Shopkeepers, it is seen, still use plastic bags as compared

to alternate options because of its cost. However, MAP seems to have generated a level

of awareness about the problems of using plastic. Some of them have shifted to

paper/cloth bags (For eg. Reliance Fresh outlets – they charge extra for it). They are

willing to extend cooperation for making plastic waste management a success.

6) Recycling agencies/centres : These are important blocks in the system which can help

eradicate the plastic waste effectively. As of now, only plastic waste above 30 microns

can be used for recycling and the whole process is costly. There needs to be some

mechanism to make this activity profitable and the options that can be considered are

as follows

a. Investment in recycling plants by government or state

b. Involvement of corporate CSR to trade the plastic waste or to help establish the

recycling systems

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c. Investment in newer technology to address the lower grade below 30 micron

plastic by municipality or NGOs

7) Government : Government has come into the picture by the means of introduction of

The Recycled Plastics (Manufacture & Usage) Rules 1999, amended in 2003, Kerala state

environment policy and most recently, Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules

2011 and assumes a major role in ensuring their enforcement. The latest rules

emphasize a lot in engaging the waste pickers constructively in conjunction with other

agencies and municipal authority

8) NGOs : There are a number of NGOs which are addressing environmental problems and

helping find the solutions. These have a role to play here in bringing about the necessary

support in terms of mass awareness generation, technology transfer, financial support

or consulting services.

Kozhikode district campaign – MAP (Mass Action for Plastic waste free)

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1) Phase 1 – Conceptualization

This initiative was started Launched by district administration to make Calicut first plastic free district in

the country. It derived its momentum from local self-governments, educational institutions and private

agencies. There was also association with the Department of Information and Public Relations and the

Department of Education. Programs were conducted for students, Kudumbasree workers, arts and

sports clubs and local libraries. There was an awareness and sensitization programs mainly aimed at

students.

Monitoring and Mass Action

Following campaign techniques were used during the awareness phase-

Human chain- 83kms long(photo)

Bike rally

Cycling

Targeting Children: 1460 institutes,35000 teachers and over 6 lakh children

Over 5 lakh leaflets, 15K banners & 4-5lakh stickers

Mammooty - brand ambassador for the campaign

2) Phase 2 – Discourage Use

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This phase is targeted to discourage the use of the plastic. It plans to introduce laws to punish those

indulging in the sale and distribution of illegal plastic carry bags. Flex board designers, who extensively

use plastic, are motivated to use other materials. Textile shops and jewellers are urged not to use plastic

carry bags. Hospitals in the district are declared plastic-waste-free. There is a proposal for making

legislation for an effective ban on the use of avoidable plastic objects.

The campaign caught momentum with aim at reduction in usage of unavoidable plastic in storage and

re-use. Traders Unions declared unilateral support. Political parties(LDF and UDF) declared use of cloth

banners henceforth in their campaigns.

Many companies including Apollo Hospitals trying to get contract for campaigning

Little Magicians against plastic(LMAP): Proposal to train a team of 200 children and 100 elders in

plastic waste handling

The main purpose targeted during the initial phases of this initiative that required attitudinal change has

been achieved. There has been huge awareness among citizens and also corporate citizens.

3) Phase 3 - Finding Alternatives

The condition of shortage of funds faced initially has now reversed. Many companies like Apollo

Hospitals are approaching the collector with marketing plans. The small scale companies already

approaching with carry bag designs. Schools for the differently abled also involved in making bags.

Material like recycled paper, cotton cloth & jute are being used to design fashionable and trendy bags.

The issues faced with the alternatives are higher prices and availability. However, with mass scale

production both these problems can be addressed. Incentives like a Rs 5 discount on bills can be

provided to the customers so that they purchase a cloth bag. This will help people to make it a regular

habit to take own carry bags for shopping.

4) Phase 4 - Processing Plastic Waste

There are proposals for setting up 12 recycling plants in Kozhikode district and around 2000 centres for

collection of plastic. A project titled ‘SMILE’ has been initiated under which resource recovery centers

have been opened to collect plastic waste in all schools. Students collect plastic items from their

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localities and hand it over to the recycling units. Committees have been formed for this and special

recognition is given to deserving students.

A Kilogram of plastic can fetch around Rs. 70 in the market. Therefore, this has huge commercial

potential for the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation. There are 75 Panchayats in the district, 2

municipalities and one corporation. There is a special fund called ‘Suchita Mission’ earmarked by the

Kozhikode Corporation for the Panchayats.

The total cost of waste plastic processing machine is Rs 3 Lakhs. Already installation is done 16

Panchayats and in a few months it shall be completed at other Panchayats too.

There is already a plastic processing plant at Farooke(south of Kozhikode) but it is very small and

capacity is inadequate. The corporation is planning to install 10 machines of huge capacity in the city for

this purpose.

The Collector has tried to approach companies for a waste processing contract. They had talks with big

corporate like ITC but they did not materialize.

The plan currently is to crush and shred all collected plastic and sell it to recycling companies.

An interesting observation we had in the city: Big Bazaar is collecting plastic waste from customers and

giving Rs 40 discount/Kg collected on select products in exchange.

Case of Himachal Pradesh

'Polythene Hatao- Paryavaran Bachao' (Remove polythene, save environemnt) campaign was launched

in Himachal Pradesh on 21st December 2009 Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Chief Minister. The main

Agenda of this programme was to collate all the the plastic littered on the hill slopes, forest areas and

near rivers and nullahs etc. 1381 Quintals of Polythene was collected in the State in 8 days, which would

be sufficient to mettle a stretch of approx. 138 kms of Plastic Coated Bitumen road. The State

Government plans to adopt zero waste management strategy and regulate littering of non-

biodegradable waste. Government of Himachal Pradesh banned the use, sale and manufacture of

polythene/plastic carry- bags. Since 1999, the Government imposed prohibition on the traders, retailers

and vendors in the State for using polythene carry bags.

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Efforts would be taken to improve awareness of harmful effects of Plastics. Open disposal of plastic

waste would be banned and the defaulters would be prosecuted. The responsibility of the concerned

traders and house owners would be fixed for littering. The campaign has provided the opportunity to

the society to introspect on the objective of making the state plastic free. The government is

encouraging people to store plastic waste. The waste is used in road construction. The PWD would be

purchasing waste plastic at the rate of Rs 4 per kg of which Rs 1 would be given to the Municipal bodies

as handling charges.

The government is now promoting the use of paper and jute bags. The common people is educated to

use environment-friendly paper and jute bags. Special drives were launched to educate the tourists not

to bring polythene bags along with them during their visit to the state.

Case of Haryana

Haryana strictly implemented a ban on the manufacture, sale & distribution and use of virgin as well as recycled plastic carry bags. The ban was imposed on littering plastic articles in public places like national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, playgrounds, recreational places & tourist. The ban included items like plates, cups, tumblers, spoons, forks and straws. Historical, religious and areas of ecological significance, the use of all types of plastic articles were banned. The state pollution control board was entrusted with be the authority for the enforcing the provisions of these directions. Awareness campaigns were carried out to make the people aware about the negative effects of plastic bags. They even recruited Environment Sepoys to promote awareness and inform the public about the ban.

Hefty fine were be imposed on violators. Manufacturing units which violate these guidelines will have to pay a fine ranging from Rs.25, 000 to Rs.50, 000 while Retailers, vendors and other establishments found violating these directions shall be fined Rs.2,500-Rs.5,000. The ban was extended to individuals @ Rs.250-500 per offence for using or found littering cups, plates, tumblers and plastic carry bags.

Plastic ban in other parts of the world

As more and more people are getting aware of the consequences of use of plastic on the environment, there has been an international movement to reduce its usage. It has prompted governments to either ban the usage of plastic bags or tax it so that people make less and less use of plastic in day-to-day life. As of now, plastic bags have been either banned or restricted in more than 25 percent of the world.

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Figure: Countries or areas where plastic usage is banned or taxed

Bans have been imposed on local level in the United States. In 2007, San Francisco passed a legislation banning the use of plastic bags. Similar law was passed in Los Angeles in 2010. In Washington DC, the five-cent tax was levied on plastic bags in 2010 which resulted in a decrease in consumption from 22.5 million to 3 million bags in the first month alone.

Ireland has imposed "PlasTax" on retail customers, a levy of about 20 cents on the usage of plastic bags since 2002. The use of plastic bags in Ireland had dropped more than 90 percent after that and the government has raised millions of dollars for recycling programs. Belgium, Italy and Hong Kong also have legislations discouraging the use and encouraging the recycling of plastic bags.

Conclusion

The plastic bags came into use to prevent large scale felling of trees which was being done for the production of bags made of paper. Being seen as saviors of forests, their production was promoted and they did help in that purpose preventing deforestation. But, now we are realizing that they have become a nuisance because of their non-biodegradable properties. Still it does not mean that their production should be banned because it will start the process of felling of trees once again. Therefore, the solution does not lie in the blanket ban on usage of plastics. Promoting paper bags in place of plastic bags could not be the solution. Therefore, there is a need to find suitable alternatives for plastic.

We need to promote judicious use and recycling of plastics till the time we don’t find suitable alternatives. Production and usage of alternates like bags made of jute and clothes, which have longer life, should also be promoted and incentivized. There is a need for government policies to be aligned with this objective. Education and mass awareness will also play a major role in achieving plastic free world as this objective can’t be achieved with government diktats.

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References

• www. education .nic.in/

• www.envfor.nic.in

• http://plasticbagbanreport.com/

• http://lifewithoutplastic.com/

• http://www.plasticfreecalicut.com/index.php

• www.timesofindia.com

• www.hindu.com

• http://mdoner.gov.in/storiesdetails.asp?sid=10

• www.wikipedia.com

• www.flickr.com

• http://www.malabarscoop.com/kozhikode-to-be-declared-plastic-waste-free-district/

• http://socyberty.com/activism/creating-a-plastic-free-world/

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