The Kozhikode district committee of the Sign Printing Industries Association (SPIA) has accused the Department of Local Self-Governments of enforcing a ban on hoardings and banners made of polyvinyl chloride without holding a scientific study.
Quoting the Union government’s Waste Management Rules, SPIA Kozhikode district president A.P. Jaisal said in a release on Saturday that products that could be recycled should not be banned.
He claimed that the association had proven through research and studies that PVC hoardings and banners could be recycled. The SPIA functionary, however, alleged that a recycling plant could not be set up in Kerala because the government had refused to allot land for the purpose. The association had been transporting the material to Karnataka, where it had set up a plant, he said.
The SPIA had already informed the government that they were printing boards and banners for temporary use only with biodegradable material. Those printed for longer use with material that could be recycled were being reclaimed and sent to the plant.
Printers had stocked the raw material worth lakhs of rupees and dealers had erected hoardings and banners spending similar amount of money. The ban would affect the industry, which was struggling to recover from the impact of the floods, and thousands of families who were dependent on it, the SPIA functionaries pointed out.
