PMC trying to nab main supplier of plastic bags

PMC trying to nab main supplier of plastic bags

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) Solid Waste Management Department has been trying to nab the main supplier of the black plastic garbage bags that are being openly sold at several chowks and pavements in the city.

Interestingly, these bags had been banned in the State one-and-a-half years ago. However, these bags have surfaced on city streets again on a large scale.

Speaking to Sakal Times, Joint Municipal Commissioner and In-charge of PMC’s Solid Waste Management Department Dyaneshwar Molak said, “These bags have been banned and we keep confiscating them whenever we find them. We have been aware that they are being sold openly at several spots, as the vendors keep receiving stocks from the main suppliers.”

He added that the PMC has begun a probe to find the supplier. “We can only stop the sale of these garbage bags when we nab the original supplier,” Molak said.

However, member of Environment Committee Plast India Foundation and a member of the CM Plastic Task Force Sameer Joshi said these bags will truly stop coming into the market only when people stop buying them.

“The municipal corporations are making efforts to confiscate these bags from the vendors. But people still prefer buying them whenever they spot them on the road as there is no effective and affordable alternative to them,” Joshi said.

One packet of these black plastic garbage bags contains 30 pieces. At the traffic signals and footpaths, vendors sell three such packets for around Rs 100. Many people bargain and manage to buy as many as five such packets for Rs 100. 

This means that each plastic bag costs less than Re 1. As opposed to this, the biodegradable garbage bags available in the market cost up to Rs 3 to 4 per bag.

“It will not be possible to bring about a behavioural change in the people to stop using plastic garbage bags unless an affordable option is made available to them. The government should now try to bring alternatives at a lower price for the plastic ban to be successful,” Joshi added.

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