Contributing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachhata Hi Seva' campaign in a unique way, Khadi India has launched a designer carry bag made from a mix of plastic waste and paper pulp, a senior official said on Sunday.
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) showcased the plastic-paper mixed eco-friendly handmade carry bags on Saturday at it's flagship Khadi India outlet in Connaught Place here on the occasion of Swachhata Diwas.
As the prime minister launched the cleanliness campaign, Khadi India introduced the carry bags at all of its stores across the country, KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said.
Saxena said KVIC conducted experiments at its Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI) unit at Jaipur to develop the unique bag.
"The KNHPI officials were directed to collect plastic garbage and after necessary cleaning and processing, mix it with paper pulp up to 20 percent to find out whether plastic waste can be utilised in handmade paper industries or not," Saxena said.
"The experiment was done on utilisation of various types of plastic waste including high-density and low-density polyethylene... The experiment was successful," Saxena added.
The KVIC said preliminary studies showed that polyethylene waste could be used to make cost effective handmade paper -- reducing the existing production cost by 34 per cent-- which in turn can be used to make cheaper carry bags.
In its project called REPLAN (Reducing Plastic in Nature), the waste plastic from nature is collected, de-structured and de-gradated and then mixed with paper pulp in a ratio of 80 is to 20, it said.
REPLAN aims to remove the existing waste plastic material from nature and use it in a semi-permanent manner, so that availability of plastic in nature is reduced to a large extent, it added.
The continued removal, coupled with steps taken by the government are expected to provide significant relief from the existing problem of plastic waste, it said further.
