Meendum Manjapai garnered attention but failed in its objective to eliminate single use plastics, says study

CHENNAI:
Two years after Meendum Manjapai campaign was launched by the state government, a study has found that it has been effective in garnering attention and in mainstreaming the issue of plastic pollution but it has not been effective in achieving its objective - promoting cloth bags to eliminate single use plastics.

The study conducted by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG) among 1632 respondents spread across eight districts in Tamil Nadu found that vendors find it extremely challenging to switch to alternatives, primarily because of customer demand for a free bag and the high-cost factor of alternatives. "These deter them from transitioning and complying with the ban," the report states.

The eight districts where the study was conducted include Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, Theni, Perambalur, Nagapattinam and Kanyakumari. The districts were chosen primarily on the basis of population size (highest and lowest population) and two coastal districts were selected as part of the study since the consequences of plastic pollution are most acutely felt in coastal areas.

The study also said that most of the single use plastic (SUP) bags did not bear any information on the microns, name and place of manufacturer, etc. "This shows that there is an abundant supply of SUP bags in the market which go unregulated. Some vendors also mentioned that cloth bags are not suitable for their products such as flowers and meat and therefore they do not have a choice but to use SUP bags," the study stated.

The data collected from market vendors reveal that irrespective of the geographic area and type of product, usage of SUP bags is the norm and taking a cloth bag to shops is the exception. Many vendors responded that even though they are aware of the dangers of plastics, the cost of alternatives,
customer demand and peer pressure do not allow them to switch to alternative materials.

The findings also point that the manjappai kiosks, albeit a great initiative, have not reached people sufficiently. The machines are available in very limited places, mostly in district headquarters. And even if they are available, they are not maintained properlyas they are rarely in working condition, the study stated.

The study says that respondents expressed disappointment that the enforcement of SUP ban focuses primarily on small vendors, and that it is unfair. They added that the government needs to enforce the ban on big multinational corporations as they are the major contributors of plastic pollution, and continue using SUPs despite their capabilities and financial resources to transition away.

The report statesd that regulating mechanism for capping production should embody transparency and accountability. To facilitate this, clear targets and timelines should be set where progressive reduction of production of SUP is monitored. This can be added to the existing interface in the Meendum
Manjappai app, wherein list of name and place of manufacture of SUP, and the quantum of and location from where SUP has been seized, and the amount in fine collected from each manufacturer shall be displayed.

The report is being released during Climate Action Month, 2024 (CAM), an initiative by Citizen consumer and civic Action Groupm wherein a series of events across the city will be launched during the month of August. Dr Senthilkumar, Environment Secretary presided over the inaugural meeting.