No single use plastic ban in 5 states, partial in 5, including Gujarat

There is no ban on single use plastic in Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Telangana while there is only a partial ban in Gujarat, Goa, Ladakh, Odisha and West Bengal, according to a reply given in the Lok Sabha by Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar.

He mentioned in his written reply to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) that a multi-prolonged strategy has been adopted for implementing the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on World Environment Day in 2018 to phase out single-use plastic by 2022.

The reply stated that in Gujarat, the ban is only in Gandhinagar. It is to be noted that almost all the states and union territories, which have imposed the ban on single-use plastic have done so even before the Prime Minister’s announcement to phase out such plastic.

According to Javadekar, the strategy comprises awareness generation and behavioural change; regulatory  regime  for  phase  out  of  identified  single  use  plastic  items  under  Plastic  Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016;mengagement with central ministries, state governments, local  bodies for  better  enforcement  and  wider  penetration  of  alternatives  to  single  use  plastic items;  engagement  with  industry  and  industry  associations for  assistance  and  capacity  building,     and     strengthening  of institutional mechanism for enforcement of PWM  Rules.

Already under Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, plastic carry bag and sheets less than fifty microns in thickness have been prohibited, the reply stated. 

The minister said that a drive to spread awareness among the coastal cities and towns, and beach cleaning drive was also taken up across 50 beaches.  

He added that under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme of the Ministry, about one lakh schools have been identified as Eco-clubs, where, nearly thirty lakh students are actively participating in various environment protection and conservation activities including plastic waste management.