Non-woven polypropylene bags mistaken for cloth, still in use

Hoteliers and customers continue to use non-woven polypropylene bags as an alternative to plastic carry bags even though they are among the banned plastic items.

“We are using the non-woven polypropylene bags as they look like cloth bags. We do not know anything about the material used to make the bags,” a shop owner in Choolaimedu said.

Some hotel owners knowingly use the non-woven polypropylene bags claiming that they do not have any ‘affordable’ alternative.

A hotel owner on Poonamallee High Road in Park Town confided that he could recognise that the non-woven polypropylene bags is a banned item, but he has to give such bags to his customers and said, “Other alternative products could not bear the weight of the products.”

When contacted, a Greater Chennai Corporation official said that they are also unclear about the types of plastics items that are banned by the government.

Even though the plastic spoons are ‘use and throw’ type, it is not in the list of 14 products, which are banned by the government, officials could not seize plastic spoons as some shopkeepers refuse to hand it over citing the list.

At the same time,customers are unaware of the non-woven polypropylene bags. Ironically, acustomer who was taking parcel food from the hotelin Poonamallee High Road said that he was carryinga cloth bag.

“Even the government order also has words like etcetera while listing the banned products. Officials from pollution control board are unclear about the ambiguous order. The government may release another order with more clarity,” the Chennai Corporation official said.

Meanwhile, the civic body collected as many as 21.67 tonnes of banned plastic items in four days.

“On Thursday, 9.19 tonnes of plastic items were seized from 15 Zones. Of the 9.19 tonnes, nearly 3.24 tonnes of plastic was seized from Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Zone, including 2 tonnes from a private shopping mall in Perambur,” a civic official said.

As many as 800 students and 50 teaching staff of government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) participated in a plastic awareness rally on Thursday. According to a Chennai Corporation press release, the rally was flagged off from the government ITI in Ambattur.

“The students were holding placards explaining the effects of plastic and its alternatives. The rally started on CTH Road before ending at Ambattur Industrial Estate bus stand,” a release said. As a part of the awareness rally, alternatives to plastics were on display to create awareness among students. “The students who participated in the rally carried eco-friendly alternatives. Awareness pamphlets were also distributed,” T G Srinivasan, health education officer, Chennai Corporation, said.