Garment industry wants Govt to lift polybag ban

Coimbatore: Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) on Tuesday appealed to the government of Tamil Nadu to exempt polybags from the list of banned plastic items, as the restriction would affect the garment industry. In a letter to the State Chief Minister K Palaniswami, a copy of which was released to the press, president of the association Raja M Shanmugham said there were no environmental issues with polybags, which were recycled and used for packaging of garments meant for the export and domestic markets. "There is no alternative to polybags when it comes to packaging," he said.

"We wish to note that polybag is included in the list of the banned plastic items... polybag is used for packaging of the garments meant for the export and domestic markets.," Shanmugham said.