Giridih, Say No to Poly bags! An Environmental Vision for Giridih district

Poly bag culture… In India it got momentum in 1970s Every year 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide (500,000,000,000) More than 100 Million tons of plastic is produced every year across the globe. In India 1 Kg plastic is used per person in a year (the global use is 18 Kg & the urban India is very close to that level of consumption). Source: United Nations Environment Programme

About 5 Million tons of plastic products consumed in India every year. Central Pollution Control Board estimates about tons of plastic waste is generated across India daily. As per these estimates everyday about 5 Ton plastic waste is generated in Giridih – More than 50% of that from 10 major locations. The consumption growth is alarming as it has severe environmental hazards.

Poly bags - packaging materials HDPE - economical disposable plastic bags to carry groceries etc. are made of High Density Poly Ethylene LDPE – smaller plastic bags for containing and storing food and other items are made of Low Density Polyethylene Plastic sachets, zipper and pouches Bin bags to collect garbage

Alarming facts about poly bags Plastic bags kill at least 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles every year Plastics with a thickness less than 35 microns are the most harmful ones which are mostly given out by the retailers and take away food outlets Food is not safe in these and has chances of cross contamination It takes almost 1000 years for plastics to decay and mix with soil

The advantage factor of poly bags are its light weight, portability, high strength, low cost and capacity to hold liquids also. The highest disadvantage of poly bags are its environmental and life hazard. The existing alternatives to poly bag are following: 1. Biodegradable bags made from fabrics, popular as Thaila 2. Nylon bags that can be used and reused several times 3. Paper bags and packets 4. Wicker basket, jute bags, sacks 5. Canvas bags

Hazards of poly bags Littered plastic bag garbage presents unhygienic scene. The poly bags choke the drainage causing over flow of drains, it spreads waterborne diseases. Animals, fish and marine species die of eating these poly bags misunderstanding the plastic garbage as food item swallow them and die.

New Rules for Plastic Waste Management by Union Environment Ministry notified ….. To fix a minimum price for carry bags as well as ban the use of plastic sachets for storing, packing, or selling chewable tobacco. Municipal authorities will have to notify the minimum price for carry bags taking into account factors such as size of the bags, material cost and waste management cost in order to encourage reuse and minimise waste. A ban on plastic bags (below 20 microns) has already been imposed by various states and also in a few towns and districts in India. It is going to extend this to other parts of the country also.

Perspectives of various stakeholders: Cost Strength Portability Retail er Consu mer Manufa cturer Limiting Factors: Reckless behaviour Open littering Limited alternatives Poor waste management No waste recycling

Say No to Poly bags in Giridih!

Priority Intervention Areas with high poly bag usage

Suggested strategies for Giridih Massive district campaign started in various phases Mass awareness and motivation Procurement of alternative bags at subsidized price. Monitoring and penal provisions for enforcement of eco-sensitive No Poly bag campaign. Rehabilitation of traders & suppliers engaged in poly bag trade. Improving Solid Waste Management Setting up recycling units by Municipality with local NGOs and other social entrepreneurs.

Mass Education & Awareness Target partners - People’s representatives, NGOs, Schools, Youth Groups, Media Possible interventions Development of supplementary curriculum for schools and school based activiteis. Rally, nukkad, marathon like mass events. Road show and interaction with shop keepers audio visual and print IEC materials & display

Providing alternatives Target Partners: Corporate, Line Agencies, Designers, Traders, local bodies Plan for procurement and supply chain of poly bag alternatives. The cost of such can be further subsidized by printing advertisements on the bag. Lots of local industrial units are aggressively campaigning their brands Large IEC materials are published by various Govt agencies at state and district level. These together can significantly bring down the cost of alternative bags. The reusable bags can be encouraged from traditional materials by suitable advertisements to make it fashionable. This requires a district cell on bag designs involving local designers.

Rehabilitation of Plastic bag manufactures and dealers Target partners : Local Bodies, traders, Bank, Industry Department The rehabilitation plan should come out with some need assessment meeting and analyzing the possible scope of their engagement in alternative packaging materials. The district can facilitate capital mobilization for their engagement in alternative packaging trade or recycle business. This could be a real good model of shifting them to the cause of No Polythene Campaign.

Monitoring and ban enforcement Target Partners - Community Organizations, Home guard, Traffic police, Media Intensive monitoring and enforcement is required for success of the campaign. The penal amount should be symbolic and minimal but every time reminding the people about the social offence they are committing. (can be used for infrastructure development, operational costs, IEC & Municipal gains) It would be also interesting to daily highlight the income from penalties to make the campaign a household debate.

Recycling Target Partners : Municipality, NGOs, Social Entrepreneurs, Banks, State Pollution Control Board 84 percent (by weight) of municipal solid waste could be reused, recycled or composted instead of being buried or burned. An exception is plastic, which comprises about 7 percent by weight or 20 percent by volume of municipal solid waste. Due to technical and financial limitations, less than ten percent of plastic is currently "recycled." The district plans can involve local municipality, urban bodies, NGOs and social entrepreneurs in developing alterative strategies of solid waste management and recycle of poly bags.

Time to work together to minimize poly bag waste towards A healthy, happy, clean and safe Giridih!

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