BAN ON SINGLE-USE PLASTICS

CONTEXT

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change, Government of India, notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021. The country is taking steps to curb littered and unmanaged plastic waste pollution.

Since July 1, 2022, India has banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of single-use plastic (SUP) items with low utility and high littering potential.

India is a party to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).In all, 124 nations are party to the UNEA, and India has signed a resolution to draw up an agreement in the future that will make it legally binding for signatories to address the full life cycle of plastics, from production to disposal.

HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PLASTICS

• Plastic waste has drastic impacts on the environment and human health.
• There is a greater likelihood of single-use plastic products ending up in the sea than reusable ones.

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED

• India piloted a resolution on single-use plastics pollution at the 4^th United Nations Environment Assembly in 2019, recognizing the urgent need for the global community to address this issue. This resolution was adopted at the UN Environment Assembly as an important step forward.
• In the recently concluded 5 th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022, India engaged constructively with all member states to develop a consensus on a resolution to drive global action against plastic pollution.
• Bangladesh became the first country to ban thin plastic bags in 2002
• New Zealand banned plastic bags in July 2019
• China issued a ban on plastic bags in 2020 with a phased implementation.
• As of July 2019, 68 countries have plastic bag bans with varying degrees of enforcement.

PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT RULES IN INDIA

• With effect from September 30, 2021, the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules 2021 prohibited the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of plastic carry bags whose thickness is less than 75 microns.
• From December 31, 2022 plastic carry bags whose thickness is less than 120 microns will be banned.
• Ban does not cover all plastic bags; however, it requires the manufacturers to produce plastic bags thicker than 75 microns which were earlier 50 microns.
• As per the notification, the standard shall be increased to 120 microns in December this year.
• The notification mentioned that plastic or PVC banners /hoardings should have more than 100 microns in thickness, and nonwoven plastic must be more than 60 GSM (grams per square meter)
• Non-woven plastic bags have a cloth-like texture but are counted among plastics.
• Plastic or PET bottles, counted among the most recyclable types of plastic, have been left out of the scope of the ban.

STEPS TAKEN BY THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT

• The Indian government has taken steps to promote innovation and create an ecosystem for accelerated adoption and availability of alternatives across the country.
• To ensure effective enforcement of the ban, national and state-level control rooms will be established, as well as special enforcement teams to check the illegal sale and use of single-use plastics
• Border checkpoints have been established to prevent the movement of banned single-use plastic items between states and Union Territories.
• Central Pollution Control Board has launched a grievance redressal application to empower citizens to help curb the plastic menace.
• Government taking measures for awareness generation campaign.

ROLE OF MANUFACTURERS

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is the responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product until the end of its life
• The guidelines provide a framework to strengthen the circular economy of plastic packaging waste and promote the development of new alternatives to plastic packaging.

 CHALLENGES

The Challenge is to see how the local level authorities will enforce the ban following the guidelines.

Banned items such as earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, etc are non-branded items and it is difficult to find out who the manufacturer is and who is accountable for selling because these items will be available in the market even after the issuing of guidelines.

ON THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FRONT

CONCLUSION

Finding alternatives to plastic seems a little difficult however greener alternatives to plastic may be considered a sustainable option.

While the total ban on the use of plastic sounds like a great idea, its feasibility seems difficult at this hour, especially in the absence of workable alternatives.