After the ban on SUP, the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals had received representations from plastics industry association, and an expert committee comprising policy makers, industrialists, academicians and researches in the field of polymers and allied materials had been formed, he said.
The expert committee has submitted its draft report and it is being examined in consultation with the Environment Ministry, he added.
Speaking after inaugurating the boys hostel at the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering Technology (CIPET) here, Gowda credited the institution with taking a lead role in studying various strategies of utility of SUP and the impact of the ban.
The Minister also said that the proposal for establishment of a Technology Centre at CIPET, at a project cost of Rs 88.25 crore and acquire advanced machinery at a cost of Rs 4.35 crore is under the government's consideration.
He said the government has also extended its support to construct 25 hostels with modern facilities at CIPET Centres located across the country at the cost of Rs 256.66 crore to accommodate 6,298 students.
Gowda also cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech where he had expressed his concern on SUP and urged the people to join the movement to collect littered plastic waste along the roadside on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.
Will Odisha stand up to this mega challenge by Modi?
Sample this. Odisha figured among the top-10 plastic waste generators in the country in 2017-18. With a waste generated to the tune of a massive 12,092.205 metric tonnes per year, the State is slotted the 9th biggest plastic waster generator in the country.
Significantly, when the State has 12 registered manufacturing units, it has only a single recycling plant. The caveat here is the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) has no data regarding any unregistered plastic manufacturing units in the State.
The import here is the SPCB didn't rule out functioning of any plastic manufacturing units sans registration. It only said no such data is available at SPCB's disposal.
Moreover, as per the amended Plastic Waste Management Rules - 2016, it has been mandated for all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to submit annual reports to the SPCB. But from 114 ULBs in Odisha, only 25 have submitted so.
The role of ULBs in comprehensive plastic waste management is of prime importance as it is they who collect, segregate, store, transport and dispose the plastic waste.
These facts tell how the Modi's SUP (single use plastic) challenge is too hot for the Naveen-led government to sup.
Odisha Government had imposed a complete ban on plastic carry bags since 2018. It had notified a penalty of Rs 5,000 for carrying, storing, transporting or selling such plastic items in the six city limits of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Puri.
Now, sample this reality check on ground. The plastic carry bags have defied the State government order with impunity. Plastic carry bags are readily available in all size, colour and classes (from humble vendors to big grocery shops). And the SPCB data clearly shows not a single individual has been penalised till date in the Capital city, leave aside any lesser known city counterparts.
The only big change discernible post imposition of ban: All big shopping malls and fashion stores have eliminated use of plastic packs. And no more plastic water pouches are available in municipal area limits of all such cities.
So, when even the Modi government is doubly cautious to use the word 'ban' on SUP from October 2 this year, it is only naive to expect so from the Naveen government, which has the tendency to buckle down under pressure.
In the given context, the Naveen government will be in a catch-22 situation. Neither it can impose penalty to stop SUP in Odisha, nor it has the capacity to recycle such a huge plastic waste (33 metric tonnes) generated every day in the State. So, will Odisha then have to live with the huge plastic burden beyond 2022 dateline?
Sources said, a discussion regarding this was held during a high level meeting under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary of Odisha Asit Tripathy.
Under the new action plan, the State government has decided to establish plastic waste processing centers in each district of Odisha. Similarly, the Public Works Department (PWD) has also been directed to use disposed plastic wastes in road construction works. In this regard, the government has announced to launch an extensive campaign for collection of SUPs for massive recycling.
Panchayati Raj department has been directed to gradually restrict the use of single use plastics in rural areas under the plastic waste management rule. This apart in order to curb the rampant use of polythenes, the state government has also decided to engage women Self Help Groups (SHGs) for manufacturing paper and cloth-based carry bags.
The State government had announced last year that use of plastic would be banned in the entire state within two years. The prohibition was first implemented in six municipal corporations and later extended to all urban areas recently.