Ban on Single-Use Plastic comes into force in the country from today

Ban on manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items has come into force from today, i.e., July 1, 2022, across the country. The ban came into effect even as industry associations urged the government not to impose a blanket ban but implement it in a phased manner.

Single-use plastic is those items that are used only once and discarded.

The items covered under the ban include earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration, plastic plates, plastic cups, and plastic glasses & plastic cutlery among others.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, in August last year. The rules mandate a ban from July 1, 2022, on manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of single-use plastic items. This is an industry worth Rs 10,000 crore. The law would cover rigid plastic items such as plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, wrapping or packaging films, PVC banners less than 100 micron, straws, and stirrers.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said that national and State level control rooms will be set up for check the illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of a banned single for the effective enforcement of the ban. The Ministry also said that the state governments, in a bid to implement the ban on single-use plastic smoothly, will initiate an enforcement campaign and close down units engaging in the production, distribution, stocking, and sale of such items.