🔆प्लास्टिक अपशिष्ट प्रबंधन (दूसरा संशोधन) नियम, 2021
▪️पुनर्नवीनीकरण प्लास्टिक का पहले का मामला क्या था?
▪️नया संशोधन किस बारे में है?
▪️पुनर्नवीनीकरण प्लास्टिक का उपयोग करने की चिंताएँ क्या हैं?
▪️पुनर्नवीनीकरण प्लास्टिक के उपयोग के संबंध में वैश्विक प्रथाएं क्या हैं?
▪️भारत के लिए क्या सुझाव हैं?
🔆Plastic Waste Management (Second Amendment) Rules, 2021
✅Why in News: The Union government notified the Plastic Waste Management (Second Amendment) Rules, 2021 allowing recycled plastic in food packaging.
▪️What was the earlier case of recycled plastic?
✅The 2016 rule mentions that carry bags or products made of recycled plastic shall not be used for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging ready to eat or drink foodstuff.
✅In 2018, the FSSAI banned the use of recycled plastic or newspaper for packaging of food items from July 1, 2019.
▪️What is the new amendment about?
✅The new rules provide a moratorium of 10 years to big companies to keep polluting since more single-use plastic
products will be added to the phase-out list only after a decade.
✅It has also allowed the use of recycled plastics for packing food products.
▪️What are the concerns of using recycled plastic?
✅India recycles 60 per cent of its plastic waste and most of this is done by the informal workforce in the country.
✅Industrial packaging happens to be the highest user of plastic.
✅ The unscientific methods used by the informal workforce to produce plastic pellets raise concerns, especially around the contamination and purity of the recycled plastic.
✅Plastic is used in a variety of sectors ranging from medicines, electronic equipment to chemical fertilizers and using such plastics in food contact applications is a concern.
✅No standards were prescribed for recycling of plastic making it difficult to understand the chemical conformity of the recycled plastic.
✅A growing body of research proves there is migration of chemicals (additives) from plastics to the food.
▪️What are the global practices regarding the use of recycled plastics?
✅In the U.S., manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that the recycled product is of suitable purity.
✅The European Union has come up with a ‘plastic strategy’ in 2018 to transform the way plastic products are designed, produced, used and recycled in the EU.
✅ Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety revised its legislation allowing only chemically recycled resins in parts that do not come into direct contact with food.
✅ The Chinese agency is now conducting an industry survey and initiating a risk assessment method for recycled food contact materials.
▪️What are the recommendations for India?
✅ Our plastic has to be recycled in authorised recycling facilities.
✅The use of recycled plastic should have been mandated for non-food applications initially to understand the issues.
✅ An inventory of the types of processes for recycling is needed and the safe method has to be identified and used for food contact applications.
✅ Guidelines on the source of the post-consumer plastic waste, type of polymer that can be used, the average time of plastic-food contact, temperature of the food, etc. are required.
✅A working mechanism needs to be developed with all the stakeholders including MoEFCC, FSSAI, CPCB, SPCB, Urban Local Bodies, representatives of the plastic industry as well as consumers.