Even after the introduc­tion of the Plastic Bag Directive (2016) and declaration of a nationwide ban on import, export, distribution, use, and sale of polythene bags below 30 microns in thickness, the use of plastic bags in the country continues. Excess use of plastic bags is a big source of urban pollution and it harms the health of cattle that inadvertently ingest these bags. Prem Sunwar wanted to do something about it. He thus established Deep Paper Bag Industries Pvt. Ltd, whose main remit became to import photo-degradable bags from India. These plastic bags decay when they come in contact with soil and sun­light. This bag is made of corn flour and cellulosic fiber and goes by the name of “Nature Cure Bio Bags”. The entire decay process takes about 15 days. It has already been successfully tested by the government of India as well as Nepal Academy of Science and Technology.

 

Initially, Deep Paper imported 1,000 kilos of the photo-degradable bags from G.R. Virindera Industries in India which manufactures and prints these bags. The price ranges from Rs 350-400 per kilo depending on the purchase amount. The bags imported by Nepal has a print of Lord Bud­dha with the statement “Buddha was born in Nepal” along with another statement “We Make Nepal Beautiful”.

 

Pradeep Kumar Dhakal, the spokesperson of Deep Paper, says the response to the prod­uct is good and the bags are in high demand. Since they initially imported only 1,000 kilos, they are already out of stock. “Gro­cery stores and organic houses bought many bags,” he says. “We are looking to import more.

 

Hopefully, we will be able to meet the demand pretty soon.” As previous unsuccessful attempts suggest, putting a full-stop to the use of plastic bags is almost impossible. Promoting the use of photo-degradable bags seems like a more viable option. They aren’t that expensive either. If Nepal can establish a photo-degradable bag industry and import the know-how, then we can imag­ine a future when all non-biodegradable plastic bags will be gone.