Mumbai: A BMC team has seized 1,500 kg of banned plastic in a drive that started from July 1. However, civic officials are now concerned about the increasing amount of plastic in its godown. Authorities are now looking for a company that can recycle the seized plastic.
A team of officials from the BMC's markets, shops and establishments, and license departments inspected around 24,000 places such as malls, supermarkets and shops. A total of 1,500 kg of plastic was seized and Rs 11 lakh collected in fines till August 11, while action was taken against 230 violators in the past one and half months.
The BMC's solid waste management (SWM) department is looking for a means to dispose of the seized plastic. “We are in talks with an NGO that has experience in waste management. They have a plant at Malad where it will recycle the plastic into a product. Discussions are at a primary stage and the model has not worked out yet,” said Sanjog Kabre, deputy municipal commissioner (special).
The BMC has asked the NGO to check if the plastic that has been seized by the civic team can be recycled. Officials from the SWM department will be inspecting the plant in the last week of August, said the civic official.
In 2018, the state government passed a law banning the use of single-use plastic. The civic body actively implemented the law back then, with the seizure of 1 lakh kg of plastic. Also, Rs 5,53,90,000 was collected in fines, with penalties usually ranging between Rs 5,000-25,000 per violation. According to the law, violators could also be imprisoned for three months if required.
