India to Ban Single-Use Plastic Products on October 2

Highlights

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making efforts to scrap harmful plastics in India by the year 2022. Also, the decision to ban the plastic items shall be implemented on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, that is, 2nd October.

Modi government is set to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups, and straws on 2nd October.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has set the goal for making India free of single-use plastics by the year 2022 and had appealed towards the nation to stop the usage of single-use plastic in his speech on Independence Day. The Central Government is expected to start a nation-wide campaign against single-use plastic from September.

India is set to enforce a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups and straws on. 2nd October, which is one of the most sweeping measures yet to stamp out single-use plastics from cities and villages that rank amongst the world's most polluted.

The single-use plastic ban is projected to cover 6 single-use plastic items, that consist of plastic bags, cups, small bottles, straws, plates, and some types of sachets. The ban shall be comprehensive and would cover manufacturing, usage as well as the import of such items.

In an Independence Day speech on 15th August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had requested people and government agencies for taking the first big step on 2nd October towards freeing India of single-use plastic.

However, issues are growing worldwide concerning plastic pollution, with a specific focus on the oceans, where approximately 50% of single-use plastic items end up, killing marine life as well as entering the human food chain.

The penalties for violations of the ban would possibly take effect after an initial 6 month period to allow individuals time to adopt alternatives.

Few Indian states have already banned polythene bags. A source has stated that the central government also plans stronger environmental standards for plastic products and would insist on the use of recyclable plastic only. It would also ask e-commerce firms to cut back on plastic packaging that makes up approximately 40% of India's annual plastic consumption.

Also, availability for inexpensive smartphones as well as an outpouring in the number of internet customers have boosted orders for e-commerce corporations, such as Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc's Flipkart, which wrap their products in plastic, pushing up consumption.

What is single-use plastic?

Single-use plastic is a type of plastic that is disposable, which is only utilized once and then has to be thrown away or been recycled.

The single-use plastic products comprise plastic bags, water bottles, soda bottles, straws, plastic plates, cups, most food packaging as well as coffee stirrers.

Why is single-use plastic being expelled?

Through climate and environment becoming a rising global issue, plastic pollution and plastic waste management have become the central point of concern.

Millions of tons of plastic are being produced per year, which is not biodegradable. Henceforth, the nations across the globe are adopting as well as applying strategies intended at eliminating the usage of single-use plastic.

As only 1-13% of the plastic products are recyclable, the rest ends up either been buried in the land or water bodies, ultimately reaching the oceans, pushing up the pollution of water bodies and killing of marine life.

Majority of the plastic is not biodegradable and with time the plastic breaks up and discharges toxic chemicals into the water bodies, which consecutively make their way into food and water supplies.

If the plastic doesn’t end up in the water, it ends up as a huge pile of waste that is difficult to dispose of. The plastic pile-up is not just affecting the human body but also destroying the environment.

India's effort to eliminate the use of single-use plastic.

India in the first stage of its campaign against single-use plastic would spread nation-wide awareness concerning the harmful effects of single-use plastic. In the next stage, the government agencies would collect all the single-use plastic items and they shall be recycled in the final phase.

The government would be introducing punishments for violation of the single-use plastic ban but the penalties are estimated to come into effect 6 months after the ban, with the intention of giving individuals time to adopt alternatives towards the single-use plastic items.

Few states in India have already announced a ban on the sale, storage, and usage of single-use plastic items such as Sikkim, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Nagaland, and Jharkhand.

Air India, the national carrier had also stated its plan of banning single-use plastic items in its flights from 2nd October 2019. In the primary phase, the airlines would implement the ban on all flights of Air India Express as well as Alliance air and in the next phase, the plan shall be executed in Air India flights.

Global single-use plastic ban

The European Union has been planning to ban single-use plastic products such as straws, forks, knives and cotton buds by the year 2021.

China's commercial center of Shanghai is progressively reining in use of single-use plastics in catering, as well as its island province of Hainan has already undertaken to completely eradicate single-use plastic by the year 2025.

The Chinese Government had also levied a ban on the import of foreign plastic waste, forcing nations like the US and the UK to find new outlets towards disposing of offs their plastic trash. Consequently, plastic waste was sent in huge quantities towards Southeast Asian nations.

Conclusion

The plastic pollution has been one of the world's biggest environmental threats and nations have to come up with better plastic waste management as well as disposal plan towards dealing with the huge plastic dump that is choking the environment.

India though lacks a systematized system for management of plastic waste, leading towards widespread littering across its cities and villages. The ban on the first 6 products of single-use plastics shall clip 5% to 10% from India's annual consumption of nearly 14 million tonnes of plastic.

Author:

eStartIndia Team