Did you know that packaged food or drink you buy could be coming wrapped inside a packet that was made from recycled plastic?
That is because the Second Amendment to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2021 notified in September last year said that: Carry bags made of recycled plastic or products made of recycled plastic can be used for storing, carrying, dispensing, or packaging ready to eat or drink foodstuff subject to the notification of appropriate standards and regulation under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).?
This is a shift from India's position from 2016 which had prohibited the use of recycled plastic for packing food materials.
If you are wondering why this is a big deal, after all, plastic is plastic, right?
Well, that is where most people get it wrong - because not all plastics are created equal and especially if they are recycled.
Despite the advancements in recycling techniques, a lot of contaminants and dangerous metals can still make it to the plastic materials collected by the garbage collectors who then take them to a wholesaler or a recycler.
During the shredding and melting process after which the granules are remolded into different products including plastic sheets, these contaminants can react with the chemical composition and there are chances of them becoming toxic.
"The advantages of plastic are also its disadvantages when it comes to recycling. It is durable, cheap, and lightweight. Still in India, nearly 60 per cent of all plastic waste generated goes back to the recycling chain. But not all these have the same composition. Before they go into recycling, they have to be segregated at the source. But the reality is that this does not happen much and plastics of different compositions could get mixed up in the recycling process, "Dr. Vijay G Habbu, senior polymer scientist and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai explained.
According to Dr Habbu most of this is due to the lack of specific standards for recycling plastic in the country. The recycling process used by different recyclers is also different. In addition to this, it is not possible to scientifically validate a manufacturer's claim that the products made by his company are 60 per cent virgin plastic and 40 per cent recycled materials.
One of the reasons for India to ban the use of recycled plastic for packing food items is the use of Multi-Layered Plastics (MLP).
"Most packaged food items like chocolates, chips and drinks these days come wrapped in MLPs. These are plastics that are coated with aluminum, which is a metal. Then there is what is called a brick carton, which are packages made up of paperboard, aluminum or low-density polyethylene. The inner layer, which comes into contact with the food item is still plastic. It is a very complex material and is nearly impossible to recycle. That is why it was banned in 2015, but in 2018, it was amended saying that MLPs made using recyclable materials can be used for packing foods. In reality, no such MLPs exist as of now," Dr Habbu explained.
In September 2021, just weeks after the first amendment was notified in August, the second amendment was brought in, allowing recycled plastic to be used in packing food materials.
"The argument was that it will help reduce plastic littering on the streets. But this will be disastrous. Virgin plastic is made by big companies including public sector undertakings that follow strict international quality norms. The same cannot be told about the recycling sector, which is still largely unorganized and done by small companies. Everything you melt plastic, there is some disturbance to the chemistry and there are chances of some toxic chemicals being formed and since there are no set standard practices when it comes to different recycling units we don't what all toxic chemicals will be there in these final products," he said.
Dr. Habbu is also an expert member on several government committees such as Indian Pharmacopoeia, BIS, Maharashtra government expert committee and is a Technical Advisor to PET industry associations however said that instead of looking at MLPs are daemons, they should be used rationally.
"There is no doubt that MLPs are of great use, but recycling them is a challenge, and around the world, researches are going on for de-complexing them - to make them simpler and easier to recycle, remove at least one metal from the mix. Until that succeeds we need to stop the small sizes - sachets are a nightmare for recycling. No ragpicker is going to pick it up and take it to a recycler as he won't make much money out of it, and even if he does it is not easy to separate the layers and put it back in the recycling chain" he said.
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