Thiruvananthapuram corporation first to collect blister packs

Thiruvananthapuram: Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is about to be the first local body in the state to collect used blister strips from people. Next week, there will be a special drive in which the NGO collecting plastic waste from the Corporation, will collect tablet strips. Blister packaging, the preferred packaging for tablets, is made of several layers of materials, and is extremely difficult to recycle.

“Blister packs contain both plastic and metal layers. The labour charge for separating the layers is high. There is no machinery to separate it, as there are different kinds of blister packs,” says P J Mathew, former President, Plastic Manufacturers’ Association. In order to prevent exposure to oxygen and moisture, blister packs use a plastic backbone. This is usually PVC. The peel-open lidding foil is made of aluminium. Cold form foil is made of a three-layer laminate – PVC, aluminium and polyamide.

While the Indian Medical Association collects hospital waste including plastic, they don’t usually deal with blister packs. “We deal with medicines past the expiry date, but the packaging is not usually processed at IMAGE plants. We do have linkages with plastic recyclers. We do not refuse blister packets should hospitals send it to us, but we do not usually receive those in large quantities,” says Dr N Sulfi, secretary, IMA Kerala.

The civic body decided to hold a separate drive for blister pack collection, as  people have been complaining about being unable to dispose it off. Scrap dealers who collect it, burn it, as plastic recyclers alone cannot recycle it. Now Saroji Ponnaiya foundation, the Nagercoil-based NGO which links plastic waste to recyclers, has agreed to collect blister packets for Rs 4500 per tonne. In the first drive, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is not expecting a large quantity. “But when people hear about a drive only for blister packets, they will stop discarding those and wait for the next collection drive,” an official says.