|
..
|
|
Eco-labeling to boost jute products
Eco-labelling of all jute products has assumed importance with growing global awareness of environmental hazards and commitments to reduce green-house gases (GHGs) emissions and global warning.
Eco-labelling has offered immense opportunities for promoting domestic jute products, particularly in the developed countries, provided the jute industry equips itself with both GMP and GLP and the ISO 14000 scheme in its production system, said Ijma chairman Sanjay Kajaria. Unless jute products are also standardized, they can hardly make eco-labelling acceptable to the developed countries.
To do Eco-labelling, adequate funds are required and once it is successfully done, targeted eco-labelling study could be taken up. in a recent communication to the Union textiles secretary, Mr Kajaria has drawn his attention to the importance of ‘life cycle analysis (LCA) and eco-label protocol.
For example the case of a manufactured products, LCA involves making detailed measurements during the manufacture of the product, from the processing of the raw materials used in production and production and distribution to its use, possible re-use or recycling, and its eventual disposal.
LCAs enable a manufacturer to quantity how much energy and raw materials are used, and how much solid, liquid and gaseous wastes are generated at each stage of the product’s life.
Such a study would normally ignored second generation impacts, such as the energy required fire the bricks used to build the kilns used to manufacture the raw material.
However, deciding which is the ‘cradle’ and which the ‘grave’ for such studies has been one of the points of contention in the relatively new science of LCAs, and in order for LCA to have value, there must be standardisation of methodologies, and consensus as to where to set the limits.
Much of the focus worldwide has been on agreeing to the methods and boundaries to be used when making such analysis, and it seems that agreement may have now been reached.
To carrying out an LCA is a lengthy and very detailed exercise,
time-consuming and involves a lot of research by scientists, jute technologists, technocrats and management experts. But it is a must if the government and jute industry want to make jute products environment-friendly, economical and acceptable to developed countries to match the exports target set for jute in the National Jute Policy, 2005.
More trouble for Indian jute sector if they fail to eco-label their products
Bhubaneswar, March 11: A European Commission (EC) directive on packaging and packaging waste has sought to blacklist jute bag supplying countries such as India if they fail to eco-label their products and conform to supply-disposal norms laid down in EU countries.
This may land the already beleaguered Indian jute industry into further troubles as its materials are yet to be globally ‘eco-labelled’ in tune with the EC formulated Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Amendment ) of 2008.
The EC directive has asked the Indian jute goods producers, who are obligated for supplies of over 500 tonnes under the Producer Responsibility Obligation Regulations to submit an operational plan which would detail the scheme and intention of future discharge of their responsibility.
If a producer fails to submit the operational plan and keep up to responsibility obligations, it will be immediately blacklisted and the consignment banned from European Union (EU) nations. The deadline for providing the plan will be January 31 of each year. Any small producer choosing the allocation route, however, will not be required to produce an operational plan, regardless of the size of its obligation.
“We are in a fix over the EC’s latest directive pertaining to ‘eco-labelling’ of jute products and adhering to the supply disposal norms. We have been urging the government for long on the eco-labelling of jute products for smooth entry into EU countries,” said Sanjay Kajaria, chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA), the organised platform of the India jute industry.
Meanwhile, the UK-based companies have already started sending feelers to its world-wide suppliers, especially Indian firms, for an immediate furnishing of total packaging figures for delivered materials broken down into six key elements other than jute and hessian including paper, cardboard, glass, aluminium, steel, plastic and timber pallets.
According to instructions issued by the health and safety advisory divisions of these UK companies, every packaging material re-used and recycled will have to be notified about the quantity and percentage sent. The department of food and rural affairs (DeFra) of the UK government has also listed the notification in its website. Soure:
Business Standard
|
|
