New Delhi: India is set to ban the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, all across the country from July 1, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has announced
Preparations are afoot, with several government departments gearing up to set up national and state-level control rooms and form special enforcement teams to check any violations. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has already directed the Customs department to prohibit the import of any of the notified items and asked petrochemical industries to stop the supply of plastic raw material to industries engaged in the production of the banned items, News 18 reported.
An online app has also been launched to enable people to report violations, and make complaints. “The success of the ban will only be possible through effective engagement and concerted actions by all stakeholders and enthusiastic public participation,” said the ministry on Tuesday.
States and Union Territories have been asked to set up border checkpoints to stop the interstate movement of any banned single-use plastic items. CPCB Grievance Redressal App has been launched to empower citizens to help curb the plastic menace. The ministry has also launched Prakriti – the mascot for wider outreach.
India notified the Plastic Waste Management Rules (Amendment) Rules, 2021 in August last year banning 19 plastic items identified on the basis of ‘low utility and high littering potential’. The list includes plastic cutlery, straws, stirrers, plastic sticks for candies, and balloons, as well as plastic packaging and polystyrene used for decoration.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2019, had given a clarion call to phase out single-use plastic items by 2022. According to the environment ministry, the ban is a defining step to curb pollution caused by littered and unmanaged plastic waste.
“The adverse impacts of littered single-use plastic items plastic on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, including in marine environment are globally recognised. Addressing pollution due to single-use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries,” it stated.
