New Delhi, Feb 4 : President Pratibha Patil today called for an effective waste management policy of plastic to save the environment from its ill effects.

Inaugurating the seventh International Plastic Exhibition and Conference here, Patil said this could be achieved by adopting a proper recycling technology.

"There are technologies which can address the issue and appealed to take all inputs from the exhibition for adopting suitable technologies effective waste management and cleaning up of the environment," she added.

"Plastics waste can be treated as "Wealth" by recycling them into value added products. There is thus a need for concerted efforts by industry and civil society for bringing awareness about the proper use and disposal of plastic waste and for developing suitable mechanisms for systematic waste collection and recycling," she said.

Patil further said the Government has announced a National Policy on Petrochemicals to promote Research and Development and to create adequate skilled manpower, with an overall objective to achieve environmentally sustainable growth in the petrochemical sector.

"Indian industry is gearing up to meet these challenges. With a vast talented and skilled manpower and well-established and globally reputed institutions we will take major strides in Research and Development activities in areas of material development, like high performance plastics and biodegradable polymers," she added.

Patil said the plastic industry is labour intensive and the polymer consumption in the country may go up from 5.8 million tones to 11 million tones in the coming years.

"Rapid urbanization and growth in retail business in India will result in high growth performance for the plastics sector. There are currently more than 50,000 units across the country with a turnover in excess of Rs. 80,000 crore, she added. (ANI)