New Delhi, Nov 21 (KNN) The Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADITSSIA) has requested the Tamil Nadu government to postpone the ban for another 2 years on 13 plastic items including paper cups that would come into effect from January 1, 2019, K P Murugan, President of MADITSSIA told KNN India.

He said that the paper cup manufacturing industries use PVC to coat paper cups which do not harm environment as this plastic is food grade one.

More than 100 manufacturing industries in the region manufacture 14 banned items and their livelihood depend on this, he added. 

Murugan said, “We are representing various bodies like Plasma and Tamil Nadu Plastic Industries Association, urging the state government to postpone the ban for another 2 years.”

All the industries have taken the loans for setting up industries and due to enforcement of ban no unit would be able to pay back their bank loans, he further added.

He said “If government postpones the ban for another 2-3 years, the manufacturers would be able to change their work from manufacturing the banned items to other items and would get time to escape from the closure.”

Few months, back the state government announced that it would ban the use of plastic items, including non-biodegradable carry bags, from January 2019 to "gift a plastic-free" state to future generations.

The banned items include plastic paper cups, water sachets, straws and carry bags.