Major FMCG companies working with NGOs for recycling plastic waste say source segregation is a big challenge and called for a national level framework to address the issue.
“Certain single-use plastic products have been banned in Tamil Nadu as is the case in several countries and plastic packaging per se has not been banned,” said Chitranjan Dar, Group Head of Environment Health and Safety, R&D, Projects, ITC Ltd. He said the company was looking to build capacity in the next 5-6 years, which would enable it to annually collect and dispose of as much plastic used in the packaging of its products consumed in the State.
At present, there was an ongoing initiative focussed on providing an end-to-end sustainable and a scalable solution across the entire value chain right from awareness, segregation, collection, reuse or recycle of solid waste. The initiative covered Chennai and Coimbatore, he said.
Annually, the company collected 5000-7000 MT of multi-layered plastics and equivalent of which was being supplied to cement plants as an alternative fuel at present, he said adding that the company was working with the stakeholders in Tamil Nadu.
A spokesperson from Nestle India said the company launched its initiatives towards responsible waste management towards the end of 2017, when it and a few other companies formed a consortium to execute pilot projects to manage multi-layered plastic waste.
Creating awareness
After evaluating the pilot projects, it has now scaled it up to 12 States, including Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, with an objective to undertake extended producer responsibility.
“We are engaging with waste management service providers and NGOs to create awareness amongst waste pickers, collect, segregate and responsibly dispose and recycle post-consumer plastic waste by sending it to waste-to-energy plants and cement kilns where it is being used as fuel,” he said.
Nestle has managed around 400 MT of multi-layered plastic waste in Tamil Nadu till the end of 2018. However, tackling the issue required a collective approach with equal participation from all stakeholders, he noted. He also pointed out that a national level framework would be useful as State specific laws and variations were one of the biggest challenges the industry faced and efficient source segregation by the urban local bodies also needed to be foundational for implementing a successful waste management model.
‘250 tonnes collected’
A company spokesperson from Hindustan Unilever Limited said the company has initiated collection and disposal of consumer plastic waste in several cities in Tamil Nadu in collaboration with its NGO partner Saahas. As part of this, over 250 tonnes of plastic laminate waste was collected during 2018.
