Presentation by Dr. A.B. Harapanahalli at the Seminar on Packaged Water Industry in India which was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 30th June 2009. To know more click on the link http://indiawaterportal.org/post/6790 We thank CII and the presenters for giving us permission to make these presentations available online.

1. Plastic Waste Management Dr. A.B. Harapanahalli DIRECTOR Ministry of Environment & Forests Regional Office

10. Quality of Recycled Products Quality of recycled products, questionable. Recycled polybags are made from LDPE and HDPE. Source of plastic waste cannot be traced, likely that these may include bottles and packaging from pesticides etc. Plastics are not sorted according to the contamination they have acquired during the first life span. The recycled plastics are made into cheap products for storing food and beverages. The contaminants remain due to physical penetration of the toxic molecules into the plastics and can easily leach out.

12. Alternatives Plastic waste disposal through Plasma Pyrolysis Technology (PPT) Conversion of Plastic Waste into Liquid Fuel. Biodegradable Plastics.

18. Continued…. No vendor shall use containers made of recycled plastics for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging of foodstuffs. Every occupier manufacturing carry bags or containers shall apply in the particular form to the State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee for the grant of Registration and renewal of Registration; The State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee shall issue and renew the Registration after ascertaining that the unit meets the norms prescribed under these rules and also possess a valid consent under Air & Water Act as per requirements of the State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee.

20. Ecomark proposed Scheme on Labeling of Environment Friendly Products –Plastics. Under the Ecomark scheme, the requirement for plastic products are, that material for packaging should be recyclable or biodegradable. The scheme states that plastic packaging used for packaging food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and drinking water shall comply with relevant Indian standards and packaging of non-food, non-pharmaceutical and non-drinking applications shall be from recycled plastics, which shall, apart from fillers and reinforcing agents, be a minimum of 30% by weight of compatible plastic wastes. In the case of PET as on date there is no comprehensive legislation in India.