GUWAHATI, July 22 � To deal with tons of plastic waste generated everyday and recycle it in a scientific and energy efficient way, the State now has the first-of-its-kind Plastics Waste Management Centre (PWMC), which was formally inaugurated today by the Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Srikant Kumar Jena, at Borgaon of Changsari.
With a total fund outlay of Rs 7.9 crore, the centre is a unit of the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET). The automatic recycling plant has a universal mechanical recycling facility that can handle all types of plastic wastes.
With a capacity of recycling 1 ton of plastic waste per day, the plant had already started functioning from August 2009 and is also being used for education and demonstration of plastics recycling technology to convert wastes into cost-effective granules as well as value-added products.
Speaking at the inaugural function, the Minster of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers said that as plastic has become an indispensable part of people�s lives; there is a need to launch immediate measures to deal with the plastic wastes, before it assumes alarming proportions.
�With the globalization of the economy, the plastic industry in India is witnessing a healthy growth rate of about 12 to 15 per cent per annum. As a result, the per capita consumption here has increased from a meagre 1 kg in the early 1990s to 5.5 kg during the recent years,� he said.
�The improper and ineffective plastics waste management system combined with the habit of littering has led to plastics being targeted as the sole element responsible for it. In fact, plastics are the wonder materials fit for a variety of applications and the real problem lies with the habit of littering and not the plastic itself,� he mentioned.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that there is a need to change the negative image of plastic through a campaign for its proper use and disposal. �Guwahati city alone generates nearly five tons of plastics waste everyday and the plastic consumption is increasing day by day,� he said
�With the Assam Gas Cracker project coming up in the State, it is expected that 500 new downstream industries would come up here after which, both the use of plastics and plastics waste would increase. Such industries would need skilled manpower, which would also be provided by this CIPET unit,� State Minister of Industries and Commerce Pradyut Bordoloi said. �The centre has come up very timely in the State,� he further mentioned. Already 160 boys and girls have been trained by the centre till date.
Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakraborty, Additional Chief Secretary of Assam PP Varma, Bijoy Chatterjee, President of the CIPET governing council, Neelkamal Darbari, IAS, also spoke on the occasion.