Tirupur: Knitwear industrialists in Tirupur cluster fear that the plastic ban will put them in jeopardy as they have to utilize polybags for packing purposes in both export and domestic businesses.In its notification issued regarding banning of plastics from January 2019, the state government has given exemption for the polybags utilization if a company is export-oriented, but the domestic trade was not allowed to do it. The knitwear companies have sought exemption for their domestic trade as well.With the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, the Central government has earlier mentioned that plastic bags with thickness of 50 micron can be produced and utilized. But the state government recently issued a notification under provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, that the polybags irrespective of thickness should not be utilized for packing of any products, except milk, curd, oil and medical products.More than 100 companies and 400 other job work units are involved in manufacturing polybags in the district. They produce around 20 tonnes of polybags in a day to cater to 2,500 knitwear units, which utilize polybags with thickness ranging from 20 micron to 60 micron for packing garments.President of Tirupur Plastic Manufacturers Association N Shanmugam said, “The knitwear units also use polybags in production process for transporting fabrics.”Secretary of the association KB Loganathan said, “We use virgin quality of polyethylene and polypropylene sold by petroleum companies for producing polybags. We supply 50% of our goods to knitwear units for export purposes and another 50% for domestic trade.” Unlike the plastic carry bags or other polybags utilized in consumer segments, the polybags utilized in the knitwear business would not be discarded mostly, he said.“The goods here should be packed as per specifications given by the buyers, either in exports or domestic trade. It is vital in displaying purposes in showrooms and shops, especially in case of visibility and freshness,” said an official associated with the Tirupur Exporters’ Association“The polybags are essential to the knitwear business. The complete ban on the plastic would severely affect the industry, especially in Rs 2,0000-crore domestic trade, for which no exemption was given,” said SP Muthurathinam, President, Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association.“The government has allowed to utilize polybags which are biodegradable. The company which wanted to stick with such bags should obtain permission from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and certain ISO (17000) certification. Other polybags should never be manufactured, stored or utilized,” said Boopathy, Tirupur city health officer.

Stay updated with all the Coimbatore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.