Single-use plastic ban takes toll of 650 MSME units in Halol, Gujarat

Halol, July 21 (KNN) Approximately 650 MSME units in Halol city of Gujarat have been shut down owing to the single-use plastic ban enforced from July 1, 2022.

The unit owners met on Wednesday to deliberate on their future located in Panchmahal district.

It is to note that plastic products below 75 microns are prohibited under the single-use plastic policy.

They have reached out to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel urging him to continue current decision to allow 75-micron plastic products even after December 31, 2022, instead of changing the mandatory product requirement to 120-microns.

Most of the 650 units of Halol are engaged in manufacturing 50-micron plastic products — an upgrade the industry claims to have made in 2018 when the mandatory orders were effected.

A bulk of their manufactured products are now lying unsold in the units.

We have closed the units since July 1 as there are no takers for the unsold products, informed Sachin Shah, Convenor of The Halol Small Scale Plastic Welfare Association.

Shah pressed on the machines which is required to produce the permissible level of thickness which cost nearly Rs 25 lakh.

The units are refraining from making such investments if the micron thickness is set to change within six months from January 1, 2023, he said.

However they have assured about 20,000 workers directly associated with the units that they would try their best to restart the unit.  (KNN Bureau)