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PACPROCESS-DRINKTECH 2019 SHOWDAILY 14 DECEMBER 2019 | SUPPORTED BY PACKAGING SOUTH ASIA & INDIFOODBEV
convenience of having to bring
your own bag is likely to work
against the small vendor.
“When we seek Western
fads at Indian levels of income,
the economic cost of our per-
ceived moral rectitude will be
borne by the poor. In a way, the
ban on plastics is a disguised
admission by the government
that it has failed to put in place
adequate garbage disposal
mechanisms. So, that’s the
place to start – get municipal
governments to invest in waste
management. The war on plas-
tics should be, er, replaced
with a war on plastic waste.”
The reference to “essential
goods being made affordable to
the poor” with the help of por-
tion packs of milk and biscuits
or sachets and plastic bags is
very significant here. Professor
CK Prahalad of Michigan Uni-
versity famously wrote about
‘The Fortune at the Bottom of
the Pyramid.’ He identified the
opportunity at the ‘bottom of
the pyramid’ for corporations
to innovatively respond to it.
The characteristically Indian
innovation of the ‘single-serve
sachet’ is a celebrated market
response. It offers compelling
value to the poor.
Hundreds of branded prod-
ucts have, with the help of
such sachets, found their way
into the daily lives of the poor
in India. For businesses, they
help to penetrate new markets,
and for the poor, offer a wider
choice. Even poor consumers
with uncertain incomes can af-
ford to buy a single-use quan-
tity of product. In this way, all
sorts of FMCG products like
shampoo, detergent, tooth-
paste, hair oil, or food prod-
ucts like cooking oil, snack
food, tea, sauce, and jam are af-
fordable equally for everyone.
But the ‘bad bag ban band-
wagon’ marches on, as Stephen
Carter, writing in The Print
(Aug. 2019) terms it. Many peo-
ple like to believe that if public
packaging waste management
compliance does not work, it
must be forcefully imposed
by a ban. As Carter observes,
“If we can’t protect the envi-
ronment without constantly
reducing the scope of person-
al freedom, chances are we
haven’t thought hard enough.”
Gradual reduction and re-
cycling (or substitution) of sin-
gle-use plastics suggests a more
graded response to the mitiga-
tion of environmental degra-
dation caused by it. It includes
the aspirations of the low-in-
come (BPL) groups also, which
form a significant part of the
Indian market landscape. As
Sambyal and Bandela observe
in their Down to Earth article,
“Though the idea of restrict-
ing the inflow (of SUPs) by im-
posing a ban sounds good, the
question on the economics,
availability, and applicability
of alternatives remains unan-
swered.”
Yes, the jury is out. Tech-
nology has yet to offer com-
mercially viable alternatives
to plastic-based multi-layered
packaging and SUP single-serve
sachets. Policy responses need
to be calibrated keeping this in
mind; a policy that makes us:
Sing a Song of Single-Use
Such that when the policy
is opened
The birds begin to sing!
(Indeed a dainty dish to be
set before the King.)
What will the chai-wala do next?
I
f you are looking for a dip-stick indica-
tor of the extent of the widespread use
of single-use or disposables in the Indian
economy, an excellent place to start may
be by observing the roadside chai-wala.
To his credit, the chai-wala has contin-
ued to evolve with his environment. A
key indicator for this can be the way tea
is served.
thermoformed from PP or PS sheets, of-
ten made from recycled plastic. Molded
foam Styrene cups also appeared brief-
ly. Heaps of these could be seen littering
the landscape in cities.
THE VERSATILE PAPER CUP
Nowadays, paper cups have become the
vogue in most chai-shops. They come in
a surprisingly wide range of sizes. Made
from HS coated paper-board, they are
sometimes fluted to provide heat insula-
tion as in airline catering.
THE CLAY KULHAD
The ultimate eco-friendly earthen cup
(kulhad) was popular till the 1960s and
at one time, even briefly popularized by
the Indian railways. It would be thrown
away after single-use. Nowadays, it can
sometimes be found in fashionable
homes. Or, at events such as the Jaipur
Literary Festival.
THE CERAMIC CUP
It was usually a tiny plain white cup (of-
ten chipped), which had to be washed
and reused continuously.
THE CHAI KA GLASS
These were tiny glass tumblers designed
to take the knocks of repeated washes
and being carried around by delivery
boys on wire-cage holders. These glass-
es are now seen in fashionable retro tea
cafes.
THE DISPOSABLE PLASTIC CUPS
These were the thin wall, flimsy cups
7
THE LDPE BAG
For chai ‘on-the-go,’ the single-use LDPE
bag takes in the hot-tea regardless of
possible toxic migration. It is no doubt
the most dangerous single-use but una-
voidable for the BPL economy.
The road-side chai-wala has had to
adapt his business to the economic envi-
ronment. With the strictures on the use
of SUP, how will he adapt once again?
– Deepak Manchanda