Last Updated: Monday, October 07, 2013, 17:56 Mumbai: The PET industry has welcomed the dismissal of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) demanding ban on use of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) - the transparent inert universally food contact approved material - as a packaging material.
The latest September 2013 order by Hyderabad High Court has provided relief not only to beverages industry but also to the profound PET user industries such as pharmaceutical products, drinking water, edible oil, milk, spices, honey, ketchup, pickles, confectioneries, etc, an industry official said.
Various NGOs have filed PILs in various high courts since around January 2013 demanding ban on PET as a packaging material for beverages. The Court orders have falsified all claims in the PIL that PET is not an inert and it contaminates the beverages, PET causes environmental hazards, etc.
The courts have taken cognisance of various documents like Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) - conforming PET as a safe material for use, The Food Safety Act (FSA) provision - use of packaging materials which conforms to BIS standards are approved for use in India for said purpose, results of the tests conducted by the Government Laboratories certified that PET conforms to BIS/FDA norms before rejecting all the PILs, the official said.
Also, the court has taken into consideration the fact that used empty PET bottles are recycled back to make value added textile products in India and it is not environmental hazard as was claimed in the PILs.
The claims in the PIL were dismissed by the virtue of orders passed by High Courts of Andhra Pradesh (PIL No. 44 of 2013), Uttar Pradesh (PIL No. 54857 of 2012), Madhya Pradesh (PIL No. 2509 of 2013), Punjab and Haryana (PIL No. 2518-2013) and Karnataka (PIL No.12847/2013).
All the PILs stand dismissed by the court orders. The Hyderabad High Court order is the last in the series.
PET is one of the most sought after and the fastest growing durable packaging material in the world with consumption of almost 200 lakh tonnes globally for rigid packaging.
The latest September 2013 order by Hyderabad High Court has provided relief not only to beverages industry but also to the profound PET user industries such as pharmaceutical products, drinking water, edible oil, milk, spices, honey, ketchup, pickles, confectioneries, etc, an industry official said.
Various NGOs have filed PILs in various high courts since around January 2013 demanding ban on PET as a packaging material for beverages. The Court orders have falsified all claims in the PIL that PET is not an inert and it contaminates the beverages, PET causes environmental hazards, etc.
The courts have taken cognisance of various documents like Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) - conforming PET as a safe material for use, The Food Safety Act (FSA) provision - use of packaging materials which conforms to BIS standards are approved for use in India for said purpose, results of the tests conducted by the Government Laboratories certified that PET conforms to BIS/FDA norms before rejecting all the PILs, the official said.
Also, the court has taken into consideration the fact that used empty PET bottles are recycled back to make value added textile products in India and it is not environmental hazard as was claimed in the PILs.
The claims in the PIL were dismissed by the virtue of orders passed by High Courts of Andhra Pradesh (PIL No. 44 of 2013), Uttar Pradesh (PIL No. 54857 of 2012), Madhya Pradesh (PIL No. 2509 of 2013), Punjab and Haryana (PIL No. 2518-2013) and Karnataka (PIL No.12847/2013).
All the PILs stand dismissed by the court orders. The Hyderabad High Court order is the last in the series.
PET is one of the most sought after and the fastest growing durable packaging material in the world with consumption of almost 200 lakh tonnes globally for rigid packaging.
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