Recycle flex to save it from banning

Nuisance of calling flex a polluting material has been increasing in the urban landscape. Some states have already imposed ban on the material for many reasons. One reason claims that flex materials are dumped in the city storm water drains, which in turn causes blockage. A blanket ban of the product for such reason is unfair, because there are many other ways or solutions to resolve the issue. Recycling is one best way possible, as the used flex materials can be reused in many useful ways. Recycling of consumer wastes and materials takes place in every other industrial sector—so why not possible in flex printing industry? The process will surely be a right step to prevent the polluting effect of flex to a large extent. In this, every flex manufacturer must take up stringent plan for recycling facilities where printed (flex) materials like banners, hoardings, etc can be recycled to convert into other usable products.

Introduction of the flex recycling facilities will also help civic bodies stop burning the materials removed from old roadside billboards and it can eventually reduce carbon foot print of the material. It’s also necessary to form local bodies/associations that can make sure that those responsible for the outdoor hoarding or banner sites don’t throw out any flex after use or leave the materials uncollected. Dumping is not an ideal way, as long as discarded flex banners can be reused in many ways.

Generally, recycled flex materials can be converted into products like shopping bags, table mats, wall hangings and many more. People living in makeshift houses use flex as roof during monsoon, an alternative to expensive tarpaulin. Used flex banners are suitable to make pouches for personal items and anything else in between, filling many critical gaps. In remote villages, the material is trimmed as sitting mats where there is nothing or only tattered mats are available to sit on. So, it’s a wise decision to convert used flex banners into usable products all over again.

Most of all, it’s not fair to include flex in the category of plastic carry bags and other plastic products which are produced and utilised on a large scale. Moreover, flex printing is very much an integral part of the graphic art industry, as it occupies a large market share. Shutting down of printing firms engaging in flex printing may render lakhs of people jobless. Now is the time to act on it!

In this issue, Nainital is the region under our Region Exclusive column. The exotic tourist town of Uttarakhand is home to a mixed population of signage firms where some old players still follow the traditional sign-making ways, while many are well aware of modern technologies, as their setups are equipped with quality printers and machines. Most of them take up good projects around the region and looking forward to upgrade their production setups.