Plan waste treatment in 180 days: Gujarat Pollution Control Board

Close to 10,000 plastics manufacturing units in the state got relief on Wednesday, when the state pollution watchdog gave them an additional 180 days to come up with an action plan for disposal of plastic waste. About 50 of them were given closure notices and another 88 given Notice of Direction, failing which they would have to shut down production from June 29. A threat of similar notices loomed large over all the units.

According to Plastic Waste Management Rules – 2016, plastic manufacturers will have to dispose of the plastic used in the domestic market. For this, they are supposed to submit a road map. However, the companies did not comply, following which they were served notices. Industry players said these are small companies and do not have the bandwidth to collect, sort and recycle the waste. Following the strict action by the GPCB, the Gujarat State Plastic Manufacturers Association (GSPMA) made a representation to the government and to Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), which had served the notices. With just days left for the deadline to end, the GSPMA had raised the issue with Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), which convened an emergency meeting of industry representatives as well as officials of the GPCB, which was attended by close to 400 manufacturers of plastic and plastic products. Urvashi Upadhyay, who represented GPCB, said that the law has been in place since 2016 but there was no action on part of the industry. It was only when they were served notices that they woke up. In addition to industries, seven municipal corporations and 153 municipalities have also been served notices in this regard.

GCCI president Durgesh Buch offered to find an investor if financially viable business plans for waste recycling are presented. "There were members of the industry, who said that recycling of plastic is a viable business. In that case, there will be investors willing to park their money. GCCI will lend a helping hand to the industries in this regard," said Buch. He emphasized that close cooperation of industries with local municipal authorities is the need of the hour.

Environmental Hazard

• Recycling of plastic by manufacturers is compulsory
• 10,000 The number of plastic manufacturing units in Gujarat
• 3 lakh The number of jobs closure would have risked