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Meghna Maiti

CHENNAI: Manufacturers of additives for the plastic industry have urged government support to this sector given the highly fragmented nature of the industry.  Stressing the use of additives to improve the recycling of plastics without environmental pollution, additives manufacturers at Plastec 2008 called for the government to make these mandatory. 

Importer of Jay em Export Company, L. Narasimhan said, “Our bio-degradable additive helps the plastic break into finer, non-toxic element in three years. There will be no harmful effect in reusing it. It can be used in food container too excepting PVC and PET. Adding this does not cause any difference in the cost of plastic. We are getting lot of enquiries about this in India.” However he said the plastic companies in India have still not experimented with this. The price of one kg packet of additive is Rs. 600 and just one percent is needed for 1 kg of raw material of plastic.

Creating a platform for business interaction and using, recycling and disposing plastic in an eco-friendly way was the  motto of the Plastec 2008, organised by Chennai Plastics Manufacturers and Merchants Association (CHEPMMA), from Feb 21-24. The exhibition had over 250 stalls from across India and the world.

Director of Vin Poly Additives Pvt. Ltd., Bharat Sharma said the company manufactures additives for plastic and rubber industries and has a turnover of around Rs 70 crore. People from Kerala, Salem have already enquired about their product. “There are expensive additives in the market which only the five-star hotels can afford. Our products, Chamak Shakti and Dessichem, available for only Rs. 25 per kg, come really cheap. The response is much better than what we had expected. People are coming from Jalgaon, Indore.”

Representatives of the Plastics Manufacturers Association, Madurai, however said they had not tried out additives due to the high costs involved t. This was echoed by other manufacturers at the fair who also pointed out the lack of compatibility of additives with all varieties of plastics. The plastic companies said the additives, largely coming from abroad, should undergo necessary tweaking for the Indian conditions.

The fair also saw the presence of equipment manufacturers such as Japanese Steel Works, promoted by Kyodo International which has come out with an environment-friendly machine for plastic industry that doubles productivity and saves 70 percent of electricity. This machine can be used for making plastic lenses, automobile components, LCD screens, packaging products, mobile phones, syringes. Manager of Sales and Marketing of Kyodo International Corporation Vivek Sharma said, “In Chennai we have a good customer base. We expect to increase sales here by 40 percent”