LAHORE: The Punjab law department has returned the draft of Plastic Shopping Bags Act, 2020 to the environment protection department (EPD) to make it ‘more implementable’.

Officials told Dawn that the EPD had forwarded a draft of the act to the law department for vetting. The law department has returned the bill for making it ‘more implementable.’

A meeting held recently with EPD secretary Zahid Hussain in the chair discussed the draft.

Dr. Asif Ali Qaiser, chairman, Polymer Department, UET Lahore, Mr. Mustafa Dogar, additional director general, Punjab Food Authority, representatives of industries department [Babur Munir] and the law department attended the meeting.

Mr. Babur Munir, DEA-III, Industries, Commerce and Investment Department (ICID), referred to the provision of registration and certification of plastic bags manufacturing units in the draft Act which assigns the said functions/duties to the industries department.

He said except for certain categories of industries falling within Schedule-C of the Industrial Location Policy, the department cannot certify and register industrial units as per rules. He added that checking for chemical polymer of plastic bags is not possible by the industries department due to lack of field expertise and shortage of human resource, whereas, phase-out plan prescribed in the draft legislation requires accuracy of data regarding number of industrial units.

The PFA additional director general was of the view that a complete ban on the manufacturing, import and sale of polystyrene and plastic bags may be imposed in the best interest of general public and environment.

The EPD secretary said the meeting was called in view of sharp contrast between the stance of industries department and EPD. The law department advised the EPD to consult the legislative proposal with the ICID and submit the finally agreed proposal for final vetting.

Prof. Dr. Asif Ali Qaiser, technical expert from UET, recommended providing alternatives in the form of cotton bags and low-cost biopolymer bags. Dr Qaiser raised the issue of non-woven and oxo-biodegradable bags and suggested that the ban on plastic shopping bags should also include the non-woven and oxo-biodegradable bags.

The meeting was told that the inclusion of polystyrene in the clause 3(f) was intensely suggested by the Punjab food department. It was also suggested that the research on plastic recycling and alternatives shall be supported by the government in the form of establishing academic “Chair of Polymer Recycling & Plastics Alternatives” at the universities where the facilities and expertise are available. The same may be included in the Act and made part of the draft legislation.

It was proposed that the draft legislation shall allocate a percentage of total production of the bags for the purpose of recycling and its quantum

through scavengers, shall be reported and subsequently verified on a monthly basis. Furthermore, record keeping for all documents/forms shall be included under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in draft legislation. Biodegradable and compostable have price constraints, but their utilisation in the market should be encouraged.

At the end, the EPD secretary directed the EPA director (legal) to amend the draft Plastic Shopping Bags Act, 2021 in the light of discussion and re-submit the same to the law department for final vetting by excluding the role of industries department.

It was also decided that the UET will submit a technical proposal on low-cost environment-friendly alternatives to plastic bags for inclusion in the draft legislation considering re-usability and cost factors while ensuring its thickness and quality. Definition of plastic bag will be incorporated in the draft legislation accordingly.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2021