Plastics actually more ‘green’ than other materials: AIPMA

The plastics industry is poised to make a significant contribution to various initiatives of the union government and is focusing on developing skills and entrepreneurship, the All India Plastics Manufacturer's Association (AIPMA), the apex body and the largest industry association of the plastic industry in India, said today.

AIPMA said in a statement that most of the government initiatives such as 'Swachcha Bharat', 'More Crop per Drop of Water', 'Housing for All', developing 'Smart Cities', cannot be implemented without using plastics and the industry has devised plans to promote its use to help the centre achieve its various goals.

Regarding the general perception about plastics, AIPMA president Rituraj Gupta said, "We need to understand that littering is a man-made problem. The fact is plastics is a material that can be recycled any number of times with varying end-uses and manufacturing of any product while consuming less power. So, actually, plastics is more environment-friendly."

Maintaining that the negative mind-set towards the use of plastics is a big deterrent and needs to be changed, Gupta stated that the per capita consumption of plastics is only 9.7 kg per person in India while the global average is 27 kg. South Korea has the highest per capita plastic consumption of 100 kg per person.

To promote plastic manufacturing, AIPMA is developing plastic parks across the country. Arvind Mehta chairman of the AIPMA governing council, said, "AIPMA plans plastic parks in five states - Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat."

The plastic park in Dahej in Gujarat's Bharuch district will commence production in 2016, he added.