From Tomorrow, 19 Single-Use Plastic Items Will Be Banned, Govt Rules Out Extension Of Deadline

Amid concerns from the industry and skepticism over its feasibility the single-use plastic (SUP) ban which India had first proposed in 2018 is set to come into force from Saturday, July 1.

The production, storage, sale and use of a total of 19 SUP items will become illegal from Friday.

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Earbuds, flags, candy, and ice-cream sticks, decorative thermocol, PVC banners less than 100 microns thick, stirrers, wrapping films, cups, glasses, carry bags (less than 75 microns), straws, and certain kinds of plastic packaging material are among those will become banned.

No extension of deadline

Unlike the previous deadlines, this time the government has made it clear that the deadline for the single-use plastic ban is not going to be extended.

The government declared that for effective enforcement of the ban on identified SUP items from July 1, national and state level control rooms will be set up and special enforcement teams will be formed for checking illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned single use plastic items.

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"States and Union Territories have been asked to set up border checkpoints to stop inter-state movement of any banned single use plastic items," the government said.

The government claims there would be a total ban on manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified SUP items that have low utility and high littering potential all across the country.

"This is an important step in the fight against pollution. With the SUP ban, we are looking at getting rid of items that have low utility, have high littering potential and, equally, availability of alternatives," Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday.

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Punishment for violation single-use plastic ban

Those found violating the ban will be punished under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

The EP Act provides for imprisonment up to 5 years, or a penalty up to Rs 1 lakh, or both depending upon the severity of the offence.

This punitive action is however taken at the local bodies level.

"The municipalities may do with a Rs 5,000 fine for using SUP items. But we have really left it to them for effective implementation," an Environment Ministry official said.

Had enough time to adopt alternatives

Recently, several top FMCG and beverages companies had sought an extension of the deadline for replacing plastic straws.

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However, the government said companies were given nearly a year from August 2021 to migrate to alternative products.

The Ministry had earlier issued directions to the e-commerce companies regarding phasing out the identified items.

While the government insists they are serious about the ban, many are still skeptical.

"Forget small items such as candy sticks or polythene, the pollution control agencies have spectacularly failed to take any punitive actions against big pollutants, either dumping industrial effluents in the rivers and water bodies or local bodies sending in sewage. It is the same SPCBs/PCCs and their paraphernalia that have failed. How is this ban going to be different," asked Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP).

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Many also pointed out that the government should focus on ending the use of multi-layer packaging instead of single-use plastic.

This (MLP) is the real menace when it comes to plastic contamination because these items are almost impossible to collect and absolutely impossible to process."

"The only thing that can be done with this packaging material is to send it to cement plants for incineration,¡± CSE director general Sunita Narain said.

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