New Delhi, Oct 21 (KNN) Seeking more clarity on the government's plan to curb single-use plastic by 2022, industries have sought clear guidelines for the same citing that an outright ban would escalate costs and lead to job losses and disrupt supply chains.

Since, single-use plastic, or disposable material that can be used only once before it is either thrown away or recycled, is used by almost all consumer-facing industries including food processing and food delivery, retailers for packaging and selling finished goods, pharmaceuticals and agriculture.

According to experts from plastic industry and media reports, the move has led to the closure of about 10,000 units and the plastic industry is staring at job losses of 4.5 lakh people following which industries sought clear guidelines on what the short and long-term plan for single-use plastic is.

Approximately there are 50,000 plastic manufacturing units in the country. The government did not ban single-use plastic bags, small bottles, cups, plates, straws and certain types of sachets and hasn’t defined single-use plastic.

However, Industry experts believe that through proper waste segregation and management could resolve the problem to a large extent, as in many developed countries.

According to the All India Plastic Manufacturers’ Association (AIPMA) report's, the country’s plastic-processing industry comprises more than 50,000 units with annual revenue at Rs 3.5 lakh crore in FY19 while another report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) said India generated 26,000 tonnes per day (TPD) of plastic waste in FY18, of which 60% was recycled, while the rest remained uncollected.

Nearly, India uses about 14 million tonnes of plastic annually, claims reports.

---------------------