Kolkata: With a steady reduction in the use of SUP carry-bags across city retail markets, the state pollution control board (PCB) has now trained its lens on other banned items, like polystyrene, popularly known as thermocol — another non-biodegradable item — which takes around 500 years- 1 million years to degrade. The US National Toxicology Programme confirmed it as a human carcinogen.
After SUP carry-bags, polystyrene is the most commonly used and littered item. It is widely used as packaging containers to keep takeaways hot, insulate homes, and safely transport everything from fresh fish to TVs. “Yet, the devastation it causes on our natural environment is demonic,” said Ajay Mittal, director, India and South Asia (Climate Change Programs) for EARTHDAY.ORG.
