Would you pay for a reusable plastic bag which is more harmful?

Would you pay for a reusable plastic bag which is more harmful?

For many of us a trip to the store has changed significantly in the past few days, You know how? Ban on single use plastic has naturally let to inconvenience for many, but this inconvenience didn’t last for long.

Many stores in India introduced semi-transparent, cloth-like bags given out on retail stores and other commercial outlets.

Following the ban, manufacturers of reusable bags started selling under the tag “eco-friendly” bags which are made of polypropylene fibres, a type of polymer which is harmful for environment and tougher than plastic bag to recycle.

The state government decided to take an opinion on it from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. Currently these bags are banned in Maharashtra with all kind plastic bags.

Anil Diggikar, principal secretary of the Environment Department, said:

“After their demand, the expert committee has decided to seek an opinion from the Institute of Chemical Technology on how these non-woven polypropylene bags can be destroyed, and whether these bags can be recycled and reused.”

He further added this report will be placed before the Empowered Committee headed by Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam.

In a notification issued on March 23, It was crystal clear that this semi-transparent, cloth-like polypropylene bags will stay banned with all kinds of plastic.

Sivagami K, a post-doctoral fellow from IIT-Madras, said most polypropylene bags available in the market are non-recyclable,

“They used fillers like calcium, carbonate, colouring agents and other free polymers are added to make it more strong which makes it tougher to recycle” Said Expert.

“We have issued a pictorial booklet informing people that these bags are also banned. More awareness on it is required,” added the official.

While we move to a more sustainable future, it is important for us to take a moment to think about how we are doing it.

A lot of people in India feel cheated because they thought they were actually making a difference by using these bags, but in fact they’re hurting the environment more.

Non woven, polypropylene bags are tagged as “eco-friendly” because they can be reused more than once. They last longer than simple plastic bags.

However, they are far from durable and they break down in 2-3 uses and take much longer to break down.

Have a look at our range of cheap cotton bags. Cotton is biodegradable, environmentally friendly and most importantly durable. Each bag can carry up to 10 kg of weight (that’s our smallest bag).

Here is our plastic ban special bags.

Go green, but do it carefully 🙂

EcoRight

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