Single Use Plastic Ban in India

The Govt. of India has imposed a nationwide ban on the use of ‘single-use plastic’ from July 1. The Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change had issued a gazette notification last year announcing the ban, and has now defined a list of items that will be banned from next month. 

“The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022,’’ says the Ministry notification. 

What is single-use plastic? 

As the term suggests, these plastic items are used once and discarded afterward. In common parlance, they are usually referred to as 'disposables'. 

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) defines single-use plastic products (SUP) as “an umbrella term for different types of products that are typically used once before being thrown away or recycled," which includes food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups, cutlery, and shopping bags. 

What are the items being banned? 

The list of banned items includes the following: 

• Ear buds with plastic sticks. 
• Plastic sticks for balloons. 
• Plastic flags. 
• Candy sticks. 
• Ice cream sticks. 
• Polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration. 
• Plastic straws and stirrers. 
• Plastic plates, cups, glasses. 
• Plastic cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives. 
• Wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets. 
• Plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron. 

The Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, also prohibit manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags having thickness less than seventy-five microns with effect from 30th September, 2021, and having thickness less than thickness of one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the 31st December, 2022. 

Why these items? 

Ministry officials have said that the choice for these first set of plastic items for the ban was based on “their difficulty of collection, and therefore recycling”. 

“The enemy is not that plastic exists per se, but that plastic exists in the environment. When plastic remains in the environment for long periods of time and does not decay, it turns into microplastics – first entering our food sources and then the human body, and this is extremely harmful. We have chosen these items as they are difficult to collect, especially since most are either small, or discarded directly into the environment – like ice cream sticks. It then becomes difficult to collect for recycling, unlike the much larger items,” said a Ministry official. 

The important thing to understand is that this plastic ban is not new, instead one can find that in 25 states and union territories there already was a ban in place for plastic bags. 

How will the ban be enforced? 

From 1 July, 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 SUP (single-use plastic) items. 

States and Union territories have also been asked to set up border check points to stop inter-state movement of any banned single-use plastic items. 

If found violating the rules, the offenders will be punished under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. Violators could face a jail term of up to 5 years or Rs 1 lakh penalty or both. 

Local level administrative bodies like gram panchayats or municipal corporations will also be allowed to come up with their own punishments and penalties. 

How are other countries dealing with single-use plastic? 

In March this year, at United Nations Environment Assembly, 124 countries including India signed an agreement to create a global treaty to check plastic waste around the world. This treaty will bind all the signatories legally to take measures along the entire cycle of plastic to end plastic pollution globally. 

Eight states in the US have banned single-use plastic bags, beginning with California in 2014. Seattle became the first major US city to ban plastic straws in 2018. 

On July 2, 2021, the Directive on Single-Use Plastics took effect in the European Union (EU). The directive bans certain single-use plastics for which alternatives are available; single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks and cotton buds cannot be placed on the markets of the EU member states. The same measure applies to cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic. 

What Is one big impact on manufacturers of these items? 

During the announcement of the ban, the government made no mention of any form of financial assistance in making the switch to alternatives, causing local businesses and MSMEs concerns. There is no denying the fact that they will have to source and produce alternatives and that means increased costs. However, the government did say it will provide technical assistance for manufacturing alternatives to support businesses in transitioning away from banned single use plastics. 

But this is something easy said than done as in India thousands of companies produce these items, employing 3 to 4 million people. The ban has already sparked apprehension within the plastic manufacturing industry with fears of unemployment.  

The experts however have expressed some reservations about the imposed ban and its effectiveness in putting sufficient curbs on plastic waste. They state that these are “low hanging fruits” and a major part of plastic waste comes from the packaging which has not been listed to phase out. 

We, at Machine Dalal, think that plastic poses a serious threat to the environment across the globe and this ban is a small step in the right direction. And the success of the ban is possible only through effective engagement and concerted actions by all stakeholders 

At Machine Dalal, we connect the supply and purchasing needs of the print industry.

Contact Us to learn more. You may also download the app to have a personalized experience of the Platform.

Check out our apps on Android or iOS smartphone.