Poly bag introduced as plastic substitute more harmful, say experts

Ganga Sridhar, a resident of Mylapore and core committee member of SWM-People Forum, was shocked to see polypropylene bags peddled out by large and smaller outlets alike, passed off as an eco-friendly alternative to plastic. Ganga, who has been advocating cloth bags as alternative to plastic, said, 

“The non-woven polypropylene bags look like fibre and is passed off as cloth. Many are unaware of its harmful effects, as polypropylene is tougher to recycle than plastic. When a few members of our group tried to speak to the shop owners, they were treated rudely,” she said. 

Sivagami K, a post-doctoral fellow from IIT-Madras, said most polypropylene bags available in the market are non-recyclable, as they are of mixed-variety. “To make the bags stronger, fillers such as calcium carbonate, colouring agents and other free polymers are added, which makes it difficult to recycle,” said the expert.  Dharmesh Shah, a policy expert, said that polypropylene has a much worse impact on the environment than plastic. “The polypropylene fibres from these bags are harmful, as they are liberated into the environment with every use. The microfibre pollution – caused by synthetic clothes and objects like polypropylene bags – is poisoning the oceans and getting into the food chain,” said the environmentalist. 

In 2009, Delhi HC ruled that non-woven polypropylene bags cannot be a substitute for plastic bags, as testing at Shriram Institute of Industrial Research clearly indicated that these bags contained polypropylene to the tune of 98.3% - which is clearly a non-biodegradable material. In the government order by the TN government, polypropylene is included in the list of banned “plastic” items, which will be enforced from January 1, 2019. 

Rajendra Ratnoo, a member of the steering committee, which will oversee the implementation of the plastic ban, said that all districts are conducting campaigns to educate stakeholders.