Experts slam plastic usage, say awareness best way ahead

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Apanel discussion on the ways to 'Beat Plastic Pollution' was held at the World Environment Day conclave organised by News Trail and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the city on Monday.

Professor TV Ramachandra, convener of Environmental Information System (ENVIS); Vishwanath, director, Biomed; Ashwath Hegde, founder CEO of Envigreen Biotech and Svati Bhogle, Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE) Indian Institute of Technology, participated in the programme as expert panellists.

Apart from taking on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which the experts believed has failed to implement the plastic ban, the experts blamed the citizens, who still carry food items in poly bags and use plastic bottles.

Professor Ramachandra said, "Health hazards posed by the usage of plastic are such that if food is carried in plastic bags, it will add carcinogen that can lead to cancer. It is a shame that people still use plastic material.” As a director at Biomed, Vishwanath highlighted the fact that the quantity of plastic waste is increasing because of the continued demand for plastic products while ignoring the risk it poses to life and the environment.

Cannot call people fools for using plastic: Vishwanath

"Plastic has become a very useful material to many people. While there are a few intelligent people who have found ways to stay away from plastic, we cannot call other people fools because of the convenience the plastic products or bags provide to them at an affordable cost in the short term. If the government is banning plastic, should it not provide the people with an alternative to ensure the plastic ban is really implemented?" he asked.

While the malls and supermarket staff can offer the customers with bags made out of paper and cloth, the street vendors have no option but to use plastic bags, Vishwanath further said.

Young should tackle the mess: Ashwath Hegde

Blaming the economists and pseudo experts who often promote use of the plastic products in order to increase the GDP of the country, TV Ramachandra asked Ashwath Hegde to share his thoughts on how the young generation can tackle this issue.

"The compostable plastic has become an opportunity for the lobbies and mafia. Most of the manufacturers sell their products labelling them as compostable plastic. It is strange that for them, there is no proper definition about what compostable and non-compostable plastic really is," he said. He further said that the usage of plastic depends on the mindsets.

"The young generation is smart and have already figured out the risk posed by plastic products. Various initiatives are being taken by the institutions in Bengaluru and student groups to raise awareness. With proper co-operation between the public and the government, the usage of plastic can be reduced," Hegde said

Awareness at all levels the only strategy: Svati Hegde

An energy specialist, Svati Hegde, agreed with the other panelists on how the usage of plastic seems inevitable for ordinary people. "It is a lot of struggle to stay away from plastic when people in their daily lives are dependent on it. Awareness at all levels is the only strategy that could help us and the future generations. While at the energy consumption, we had data and statistics with us which is not the case with the plastic usage. This also is another problem," she said.

The plastic waste also leads to the clogging of sewers and drains in the city. It later flows into the oceans polluting the water and killing marine life. However even after all this, the plastic does not get destroyed, the panellist discussed.

Back to square one due to pandemic: Sarfaraz Khan

In 2015, Director of Audit for the Karnataka government, Sarfaraz Khan had instructed all zonal officers to enforce a complete ban on single-use plastic items within BBMP limits in Bengaluru. "We had started off with raising awareness about the plastic use and its ill-effects. Later as we saw a lot of plastic coming into the market, we implemented a ban on single-use plastic," he said.

Khan had directed raids at plastic manufacturing units, factories, hotels and markets selling huge amounts of plastic items in the city. Many plastic items and valuables were seized during the raids. "We were actually preparing for ways to ban the plastic completely and while doing this we noticed that the plastic was reducing in landfills. But things got out of control when Covid-19 struck and the first lockdown was announced in 2020," he said.

The panellist had a consensus that realisation alone can save the planet from the environmental crisi