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The ban could dramatically increase costs for companies that rely heavily on plastic for packaging, such as retailers, beverage manufacturers and bottled water vendors.
The Maharashtra Movement, the first such action against plastic by an Indian state, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes a plan to completely stop the use of single-use plastics in India from here 2022.
Plastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste in the world, and much of it is discarded within minutes of first use, according to the United Nations.
Company representatives such as Amazon, H & M, Pepsi and Coca-Cola as well as representatives from the plastics industry and lobby groups met with government officials from Maharashtra several days before the entry into force of the ban on 23 June. and relax some standards, said the four sources who refused to be named.
"Our request to the government is to give the industry seven years to find alternatives," said Neemit Punamiya, secretary general of the Indian Association of Plastic Bag Manufacturers, who attended the meeting. "It can not happen overnight – we have investments, we have loans to pay and people to manage."
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), whose members include online retailers such as Amazon India and Flipkart, said in a letter to the state government that Such a prohibition would not be without its own share. negative environmental impacts that are largely motivated by problems related to the use of alternatives. "
The Internet and Mobile Association of India, which also counts Amazon and Flipkart among its members, said it asked the state to relax the rules, but did not specify what relaxation she was looking for.
Beverage manufacturers such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola, meanwhile, want an exemption from the rules as they order a redemption of empty bottles at a guaranteed price, which will increase costs, another source familiar with the talks .
Amazon, Flipkart, Pepsi and Coca-Cola did not respond to requests for comment. H & M said in a statement that it was supporting reuse and recycling, adding that the company had asked the government to clarify the rules and help find solutions.
Maharashtra's environment minister said on Wednesday that the government would loosen the rules for neighborhood grocery stores allowing them to package products such as rice and legumes into plastic. However, they will need to ensure that buyers return the packaging for recycling.
A senior state official told Reuters that the government could also moderate some aspects of the rule for online retailers or give them more time to comply with it. Another official confirmed that the issues raised by the industry were being addressed.
Both officials refused to be named because the talks are not public.
APPLICATION OF CONFORMITY
The plastic ban of Maharashtra includes bags, food containers, spoons, forks, glbades and wrappers – which, according to the local plastics industry, could cost up to $ 500. 150 billion rupees a year and almost 300,000 jobs.
For online retailers, cost is one of the main problems.
According to a source of the e-commerce industry, packaging costs account for between 2% and 3.5% of shipping costs – the price of shipping, delivery and compensation for discounts – and the use of biodegradable plastics or other such higher costs.
Cardboard boxes, for example, could cost nearly one-third more than plastic packaging, according to industry estimates cited by the media. Since the entry into force of the ban, squads of officials in Mumbai have attacked shops and restaurants, sometimes accompanied by police, to enforce the law.
The violations could result in penalties of up to Rs 25,000 and imprisonment for up to three months.
Nidhi Choudhari, Mumbai's deputy city commissioner, told Reuters he has collected more than 1.3 million rupees in penalties so far.
Bharati Chaturvedi, founder of the Chintan Environmental Defense Group in New Delhi, said she feared that the plastics industry would use compliance extensions to try to push back the ban indefinitely.
"We should really have a severe ban," she said.
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