The Indian government has Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, thereby prohibiting the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution and sale of items identified as single-use plastic by 2022.
“The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastics shall be prohibited with effect from 1 July 2022”, the notification read. According to the official communiqué, the scope of the ban covers ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice cream sticks, polystyrene used for decoration, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery like forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films used around sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners of less than 100 micron in thickness, and stirrers.
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The prohibition will, however, not apply to commodities made of compostable plastic. Notably, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, two years after assuming power in 2014, had announced his government’s intent to ban the use of single-use plastic items.
Plastic packaging waste not covered under the phase-out of single-use plastics should be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through Extended Producer Responsibility of the producer, importer and the brand owner, as per the Plastic Waste Management Rules notified in 2016, the Environment Ministry has said.
Also, for effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility, a set of guidelines is being rolled out. These guidelines have been given legal force through the amended rules, the ministry clarified.
Extended Producer Responsibility is a policy approach which ensures that producers take responsibility for the management and disposal of the products they produce once they are deemed unfit for use by consumers.
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Earlier, the Centre had asked states and union territories to constitute a special task force for eliminating SUP and for effectively implementing the Plastic Waste Management Rules.
