Ban tetrapack along with single-use plastic, Deendayal Upadhyay Manch demands

Representative image: Flickr/Tetra Pak

Amidst confusion over government proposing a ban on single-use plastic from October, the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch has called for a ban on tetrapack, a widely-used material in the consumer goods industry, as well.

The NGO claims that tetrapack is also a single-use plastic product and that there are over 630 crore discarded packs remain uncollected in the country every year.

Vinod Shukla, the president of the Manch, is the nephew of the late Deendayal Upadhyay, the RSS-BJP ideologue whose name finds frequent mention in government announcements.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been frequently urging the public to shun single-use plastics and his government is set to launch a massive campaign against the same from October 2.

In a statement Thursday Shukla claimed tetrapack leaves a "drastic environmental footprint" as it is made by gluing together different materials.

Polythene plastic makes 20 percent of tetrapacks, while 75 percent is paper and the remaining 5 percent is aluminium, he said, adding only 30 percent of the 900 crore packs are recycled annually in the country.

"Most of us think that tetrapack is made from paper, hence it is environment-friendly, but the reality is far from it. It is a multi-material packaging, which makes it extremely hard to recycle," he said and urged the government to "immediately ban this material as well."
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