The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), under the direction of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), will soon take action against the manufacturers who are selling 'fake compostable plastic products'. Most of these manufacturers are running the business without obtaining the mandatory certificate required for selling compostable carry bags, or have forged fake certificates.
In a letter to Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, additional director of CPCB, Dr SK Nigam has mentioned the names of 12 such manufactures. City-based biopolymer company, Advance Bio Material Company is among them. Others are from Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmadabad, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.The state government has enforced the plastic ban in June 2018. A ban has been imposed on several plastic products including all plastic and non-woven bags, one-time use plastic products, small bottles and pouches with a capacity of less than 200ml. Compostable plastic bags for plant nurseries, horticulture, agriculture and handling of solid waste has been exempted from the ban. There are only a few manufacturers in a country who have a certificate from CPCB to produce such bags.
However, many manufacturers are selling 'compostable bags' without a certificate. As per the CPCB report on Dec 20, 2018, there are 18 certified manufacturers/sellers of compostable bags in the country; most of them are from Mumbai. "However, there are several others who manufacturer these bags and tag them as compostable without a certificate. As per the letter from CPCB, the BMC will take action against those who are selling fake compostable bags without a certificate," said an officer from MPCB.
