‘Centre studying draft report on single use plastics’

Chennai, Aug 29 (IANS) The Central government is studying the draft report of the expert committee set up to study the various utilities of single use plastics (SUP), Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilisers D.V. Sadananda Gowda said on Thursday.

After the ban on SUP, the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals had received representations from plastics industry association, and an expert committee comprising policy makers, industrialists, academicians and researches in the field of polymers and allied materials had been formed, he said.

The expert committee has submitted its draft report and it is being examined in consultation with the Environment Ministry, he added.

Speaking after inaugurating the boys hostel at the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering Technology (CIPET) here, Gowda credited the institution with taking a lead role in studying various strategies of utility of SUP and the impact of the ban.

The Minister also said that the proposal for establishment of a Technology Centre at CIPET, at a project cost of Rs 88.25 crore and acquire advanced machinery at a cost of Rs 4.35 crore is under the government's consideration.

He said the government has also extended its support to construct 25 hostels with modern facilities at CIPET Centres located across the country at the cost of Rs 256.66 crore to accommodate 6,298 students.

Gowda also cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech where he had expressed his concern on SUP and urged the people to join the movement to collect littered plastic waste along the roadside on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.