PET Waste: A new environmental problem

Indiscriminate disposal of Polyethylene tetra-phthalate (PET) bottles used in the packaging of soft drinks and drinking water is an emerging environmental problem in Kolkata and its adjoining areas. Statistics reveal that in West Bengal, the total amount of PET bottles generated is about 350 tonnes per month, with an appalling 140 tonnes being generated from Kolkata alone. No proper unit for the recycling of PET bottles existed in the whole of eastern India for long. The process of recycling followed an unscientific method that ends up in unauthorised bottling by unscrupulous people. Proper disposal of used PET bottles, however, is the responsibility of the manufacturers both from an environmental and resource-saving point of view. The manufacturers have an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) - a concept that is now universally accepted.

The WBPCB Initiatives:-

Keeping this in view, a core committee was formed with the representatives of the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) and the Indian Association of PET Manufacturers (IAPM), in order to work out an action plan to tackle the collection and recycling process of PET bottle waste in West Bengal. Based on an urgent need to formulate proper disposal facilities for the purpose of recycling the huge quantum of PET waste generated, this effort helped to bring the 'actors' together in order to devise a 'cradle-to-cradle' solution to the indiscriminate littering of PET bottles in the state. The collection of used branded PET bottles by recognised dealers helped reduce the unauthorised bottling of water and soft drinks. This initiative also helped to shorten the recycling chain so that the people involved in the process could earn a fair amount of remuneration. This, in turn, stimulated the collection volume.

The methodology of the disposal of PET bottles, as planned by the Core Committee was simple. The PET bottles would be crushed after collection. For this purpose, the hand crushers could be used. This would follow the compaction of PET bottles for easy transportation to the recycling sites. Then the compacted PET bottles would be grinded to form PET flakes. The processed PET flakes may be recycled to manufacture various items like packaging materials, fibres, auto components, videotapes, X-ray films etc. The IAPM would assist in setting up a collection network and crushing and compaction units in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal.

PET disposal: The real picture

In June 2003, when the issue of finding a viable solution to the safe disposal of PET bottle littering was first taken up, only two PET bottle crushers, namely Zodiac Auro International and Conveyor & Ropeway Genius Pvt. Ltd. were operating in the city. These two PET bottle crushers could, however, meet only 18 per cent of the total amount of PET bottle generated in the city. While the capacity of Zodiac Auro was 20 tonnes per month, the monthly capacity of Conveyor & Ropeways was only 5 tonnes. Soon after the Core Committee was formed, two more crushing units, namely M/s Murugan Commercial Pvt. Ltd. and M/s Enviro Form Plastics Motor Industries were set up.

Arihant Traders, a Mumbai-based firm made the necessary arrangements to collect the bottles, compact and transport them to Chennai. Meanwhile, Zodiac Auro increased the production capacity considerably. Recently, Zodiac Auro International has set up another unit for crushing at Agarpara, North 24 Parganas with a capacity of 30 tonnes. Also, Enviro-Form Plastic has increased their capacity from 5 tonnes to 30 tonnes per month.

An account of the PET bottle disposal situation of West Bengal as on March 2005

Looking forward

The PET bottle waste of Kolkata is more or less being collected by the crushers/collectors. This methodology of PET bottle collection is gradually being extended to the sub-urban areas. After the success stories of PET bottle disposal in West Bengal started getting regularly reported in the esteemed dailies of the city, new entrepreneurs were gradually encouraged to set up crushing units in Kolkata and other areas like Durgapur, Siliguri and Digha.

The IAPM is currently trying to develop mass awareness on the safe disposal and recycling of PET waste with initiatives such as the following:

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