Aiming towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Swachhta Hi Seva' and pollution free India, Khadi India had launched a designer carry bag made from a mix of plastic waste and paper pulp. The carry bags introduced will be available on all the stores across the country.
During the launch event, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) showcased the plastic-paper mixed eco-friendly handmade carry bags at it's flagship Khadi India outlet in Connaught Place.
“To develop these unique bags KVIC conducted experiment at its Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI) unit at Jaipur. The officials were directed to collect plastic garbage and after necessary cleaning and processing, mix it with paper pulp up to 20 percent to find out whether plastic waste can be utilised in handmade paper industries or not,” said KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena.
“Our experiment was successful. We have used high-density and low-density polyethylene to make these bags,” said Saxena. The KVIC official said preliminary studies showed that polyethylene waste could be used to make cost effective handmade paper -- reducing the existing production cost by 34 per cent-- which in turn can be used to make cheaper carry bags.
“In our project which is known as REPLAN (Reducing Plastic in Nature), the waste plastic from nature is collected, de-structured and de-gradated and then mixed with paper pulp in a ratio of 80 is to 20,” said the official. “REPLAN aims to remove the existing waste plastic material from nature and use it in a semi-permanent manner, so that availability of plastic in nature is reduced to a large extent,” he added.
“The continued removal, coupled with steps taken by the government are expected to provide significant relief from the existing problem of plastic waste,” said the official.