New Delhi: In a major bid to phase out the single-use plastic by 2022, the central government on Tuesday announced a ban on the import, manufacture, stocking, sale, and use of identified single-use plastic items from July 1 this year.
The government took this decision in order to curb pollution caused by littered and unmanaged plastic waste across the country.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change took this major step and ensured enforcement on both local and national levels.
The adverse impacts of single-use plastic items on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the issue are globally recognized.
The list of banned items includes earbuds, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice cream sticks, polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration, plastic cups, cup glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, wrapping and packaging films around boxes, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 microns.
The Plastic Waste Management Rule, 2021, further prohibits the manufacture, import, and distribution of single-use plastic. The government further added that several workshops will be conducted across the country to teach MSMEs to manufacture alternatives to single-use plastics to help the ecosystem in transition from the use of plastic in day-to-today life.