BIS recommends the Environment Ministry to avoid certifying biodegradable plastics

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which operates under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, has recommended that the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to certifying the biodegradability of plastics due to the lack of such findings both in India and abroad. The recommendation confirms that neither the BIS nor any other agency has arrived at a final conclusion regarding the biodegradability of plastics thus far.

According to Pramod Kumar Tiwari, the Chairman of BIS, research in India and abroad is still ongoing to determine whether plastic is entirely biodegradable. Therefore, it cannot be firmly stated whether the claimed biodegradable plastics are wholly biodegradable or not. The industry is still working on this. Therefore, the certification of the biodegradability of plastics will require assurance. Hence, it has been advised to the MoEF&CC not to certify such products,” Tiwari said while addressing a press conference on ‘Green Standards’.

Tiwari warned that any such claims by manufacturers, wholesalers, or retailers that their products are completely biodegradable will constitute ‘misleading advertising’. BIS conveyed the message during a recent interaction with the MoEF&CC. Presently, the plastic industry enjoys some mechanisms to test the materials’ biodegradability, but the same cannot be confirmed with surety that they are 100 percent biodegradable.

Certain manufacturers have claimed that their plastic materials are 100 percent biodegradable. However, Tiwari stated that there are no facts to prove this claim and has asked MoEF&CC not to certify such claims. The Ministry has agreed to our request.

According to Tiwari, the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET) has already conducted research on this aspect in India. But, no final conclusion claiming plastic materials are 100 percent biodegradable has been proved yet. Presently, there are some environment-friendly materials available in India that help in reducing carbon footprints. “Until findings are arrived at, it cannot be firmly said that such materials are 100 percent biodegradable. Any such claims would be a fit case of misleading advertisement,” Tiwari added.

The BIS has developed some standards for wind turbines, energy-efficient motors, and solar PV modules in the renewable energy segment, raw materials for construction (like fly ash, construction, and demotion waste, cement, and fly ash bricks), waste disposal (like recycling of plastics waste), electronic vehicles (EV charging infrastructure and battery swapping system), agriculture (organic farming process). The BIS is in the process of framing standards for carbon trading also. So far, the BIS has introduced 22,000 quality standards, of which 50 percent are related to products and the remaining half to services.

CPCB seeks regular inspection
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), under the MoEF&CC, has directed its state service offices i.e. State Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs), to conduct regular inspections of entities that claim to use biodegradable materials and deal in single-use plastics (SUPs) under the aegis of environment-friendly products. The main objective of this directive is to eradicate SUPs from the system and produce materials meant for recycling.

In a direction recently issued to the SPCBs and PCCs, the CPCB has clarified that no certificate for the production or handling of biodegradable materials has been issued by it so far. Thus, producers’ claim to have been producing biodegradable materials in the guise of banned SUPs should be strictly handled.

“Therefore, regular inspections of entities (industries, commercial establishments, distributors, stockists, sellers, users, etc.) should be conducted to ensure that banned SUP products claiming biodegradable (without CPCB certificate)/oxo-biodegradable are not manufactured, imported stocked, distributed, sold, or used. Also, regular inspection of industries is necessary to ensure that only manufacturers having an authorized certificate from the CPCB are involved in the manufacturing process of compostable materials,” the CPCB added.

In fact, the manufacturers and sellers of biodegradable and compostable plastic commodities are required to be certified by the CPCB. It was observed that banned SUP products claiming to be biodegradable/oxo-biodegradable products are being sold in the market. The CPCB reiterated that it has not issued any certificate for biodegradable products under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2022, to date.

It is worth mentioning here that in August 2022, the CPCB issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) guidelines for producing biodegradable materials. Under this SOP, the CPCB defined biodegradable plastics. As per the rule, plastics other than compostable plastics, which undergo degradation by biological processes under ambient environment (terrestrial or in water) conditions, without leaving any microplastics, or visible, or distinguishable or toxic residues that have adverse environmental impacts, adhering to laid down standards of Bureau of Indian Standards and CPCB.

On biodegradable products, manufacturers are asked to generate a QR code based on the details provided in the certificate issued by CPCB, and a QR code shall be provided on each of the carry bags or commodities or both manufacturers at the certified unit. The details of the QR code shall be shared with the concerned SPCB/PCC under its jurisdiction. The same QR code, however, needs to be shared with the CPCB also.

To ensure the effective implementation of the ban on SUP, the CPCB has ordered India’s 18 primary resin manufacturers to abstain from the supply of plastic raw materials to the manufacturers of banned SUP items and print the precautionary instruction on each packet to prevent their misuse.


DILIP KUMAR JHA
Editor
dilip.jha@polymerupdate.com