In this Indian city, it's paper only TheStar.com Sun. Jun. 4, 2006=20 Fed up with plastic bags, a local council bans them outright NAOMI CARNIOL STAFF REPORTER
Down with plastic! Vasco da Gama, a town in the tiny Indian state of Goa, has banned plastic shopping bags in an effort to deal with overflowing landfills. Launched on Jan. 26, the ban prohibits businesses from bagging merchandize goods in plastic.=20 To encourage compliance, the government gave out more than 5,000 paper bags and will distribute 2,500 bags this month made from jute fibre. The Toronto Star emailed Elvis Gomes, chief executive of the Mormugao Municipal Council (Vasco de Gama is part of the Mormugao region) about the ban. Why did Vasco de Gama go plastic-bag free? First a brief background. Goa on the whole has been facing an uphill task tackling solid waste. Vasco de Gama is one of the three major towns in Goa. With an airport, major port, and railway terminus, it has the highest population. At the same time, it is the only town that has a waste-processing plant that manufactures compost out of organic garbage. Against this background, plastic bags pose a major disposal problem in the absence of an adequate landfill site.=20 Secondly, there is a strain on the functioning of the plant and machinery due to the enormity of the presence of plastic in the waste. Lastly, plastic litter comes in the way of a clean town. Does the ban apply to all new plastic? The ban covers only plastic carry bags, which are felt unnecessary. While the council desired to extend the ban to cover more forms of plastic, the federal government has not yet agreed. Legislation can come only from the government. Remember that plastic manufacturing lobby is powerful. If businesses are caught giving out plastic bags, are they punished? Yes. They are fined a minimum of 100 rupees, which is about $3. Action can be taken to shut the business, but to our surprise the co-operation level is high. To date, 30 businesses have been fined. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=3Dthestar/Layout/= A rticle_Type1&c=3DArticle&cid=3D1149285035240&call_pageid=3D970599119419 ~(^^)~ Avelino _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)