GUWAHATI, June 19 - It is high time for the people of the State to be on guard on the issue of use of plastic carry bags etc. These days, Assam generates 2,99,000 kg of various types of plastic waste in a day, and, in this, Guwahati has a share of 37,000 kg per day. Alarmingly, of these wastes, 40 per cent, that is � 1,19,600 kg in the whole of the State and 14,800 kg in the city of Guwahati � turn into non-recyclable wastes. These non-recyclable wastes are mainly responsible for plastic-caused environmental pollution.
The scene concerning the growth of plastic wastes in the State is such that while in 2004, the State used to generate 50,000 kg of plastic wastes with Guwahati adding 5,000 kg to that amount, in 2014, the State used to generate plastic waste to the tune of 1,48,000 kg. That year, Guwahati used to generate an amount of 22,000 kg of plastic waste.
Disclosing this Dr Amarjyoti Kashyap, president of the city-based environment group ENVIRON, said that his group conducted studies on plastic waste of the State in the above years. The studies have revealed that now the growth of plastic wastes has recorded a quantum jump by six times, compared to what it was 14 years back, in 2004.
The environment group has divided the plastic wastes in seven categories. These include� polythene carry bags; various plastic packaging materials used in packaging items like vegetable oil, salt, milk, tea biscuits, snacks, etc.; polythene sheet or cover used as wrappers for automobile, electronic, etc., goods; plastic bottles; plastic glasses; disposable syringe and other plastic items used in the hospitals and the thermo-set plastics like phenolics.
According to the ENVIRON study, these days, the State is getting a load of 68,000 kg of plastic waste daily, because of the use of polythene carry bags. From these carry bags, the city of Guwahati is getting 8,500 kg of plastic waste every day.�The use of plastic packaging items is generating 80,800 kg of plastic waste in the State every day, and Guwahati is getting 9,500 kg of plastic waste from such materials. Polythene sheets used as wrappers are generating 58,000 kg of plastic waste every day in the State and Guwahati is getting 3,300 kg of plastic waste from such wrappers per day.
Plastic bottles are generating 49,500 kg of plastic waste in the State per day, and Guwahati is getting 7,000 kg of plastic waste due to the use of such bottles, while plastic glasses are generating 19,700 kg of plastic waste in the State every day and these glasses are adding 1,700 kg daily to the overall plastic waste load of Guwahati city.
Disposable syringes and other plastic items used in the hospitals are daily adding 14,000 kg of plastic waste to the overall load of plastic waste of the State and the daily share of Guwahati in this load is that of 4,000 kg.�The State is getting 9,000 kg of plastic waste per day from the thermo-set plastics. Guwahati is getting 3,000 kg of plastic waste every day from the use of such plastics.
Multi-layered and laminated thermoplastics and thermo-set plastics are non-recyclable, whereas all the single component thermoplastics like the polythene terephthalate (PET), high-density polythene (HDPE), low-density polythene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), etc., are recyclable, said Dr Kashyap.
