No-plastic rule catches on as retailers put price tag on carry bags…..Aakriti Vasudeva
Retailers across the city charging customers for plastic carry bags to prevent indiscriminate use of plastic have reported a minimum 30 per cent drop in usage since the first week of July.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests had enacted Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, with effect from February 4 under which no carry bags can be made available free of cost by retailers to consumers. Taking cognisance of this, members of the Retailers Association of India (RAI) decided to self-enforce these rules from the first week of July. This came after Chief Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad wrote to all public agencies in the city asking for strict enforcement of the rules.
The idea is to promote more prudent usage of plastic, said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, RAI. Some members of the RAI include Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, Globus, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Westside, Reliance Trends, Landmark and Crossword, which are enforcing these rules in their branches across the city. The stores have put up signages, posters and standees to inform customers about the rule.
Bag charges vary from a rupee to Rs 7, depending on the size, starting from extra small to large. The cost, as hoped by the government, has served as a deterrent with a significant decrease in use of plastic carry bags in the city. Most retailers have recorded a decrease of 30 per cent whereas some say it is almost 50 per cent, said Rajagopalan.
Earlier, customers would ask for a bag even for a single purchase, but now that has almost stopped, said Shefali Thakkar, customer service manager, Pantaloons at Phoenix Mills. People who come by car just carry the items in their hands, said Chiranjeev Shetty, store manager at Globus Bandra. Many customers have started bringing their own bags, said other store managers.
However, not everyone is as co-operative. There are at least four customers every day who think the store is cheating the public by charging them for the bags, said the manager of a Lifestyle store on condition of anonymity. The first reaction of most customers is anger. Even high-profile customers dont want to pay. Earlier, we had to give some bags free, but now we dont make any exceptions, said Vinod Saikhede, department manager, Reliance Trends.
Although the rule requires all retailers to charge customers for the bags, small to medium-sized independent stores are either unable or dont want to do so. We tried enforcing the rule for two months, but the customers paid no heed, said a clothing shop owner from Bandra. We wont charge customers because them carrying our bags is publicity for us, said another.
Environment Secretary Valsa Nair Singh said, It is difficult to enforce these rules as 24×7 monitoring is not possible. But its only a question of time before this movement catches on with increased civic awareness.
Retailers are also looking for alternatives besides paper and cloth. Trees are felled for paper and a cloth bag is not suitable for carrying heavy groceries. We are looking at materials which are durable and can be reused, said Rajagopalan.