The non-woven bag you are carrying is banned. On July 1, the Government of India imposed a ban on 19 identified single-use plastic items to tackle pollution.
Single Use Plastics (SUP) are plastic made items or objects that are discarded or recycled immediately right after being used once. The items include disposal bags, bottles, coffee stirrers, plates, forks and spoons etc.
Single-use plastics are made of fossil fuel based chemicals (petrochemicals). It is estimated that about 8.6 billion tons of plastic is globally produced until 2015. However worldwide only 9% of plastic made items are recycled. Globally 5 trillion SUP bags are used annually. It has been found by estimation that 5-10% of greenhouse gas would be outflow by single-use plastic by 2050.
It has been seen that the majority of the time the plastic items endup littering on the streets, choking moreover as blocking the oceans, rivers, seas following the animals to die. Aquatic animals always mistake plastic for food resulting in them to unknowingly consume loads of plastics that are dumped into the oceans, seas and rivers. It is also often seen that both land animals and birds too mistake plastic for food, filling their stomach with debris and wastes.
India has imposed a ban on Single-use Plastic from July 1
India single handedly uses about 14 million tons of plastic annually, threatening the nation to face upcoming dangerous consequences in future. In 2019, at the 4th United Nations Environment, India piloted a resolution addressing single-use plastic products pollution.
On July 1, the Government of India imposed a ban on 19 identified single-use plastic items to tackle pollution. The ban on items includes straws, earbuds, cigarette packets etc, informed by the Prime minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi.
An announcement was made on 15th August 2019, on phasing out single-use plastic. Right after the announcement, on August 12, 2021, a notification was issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change following the government’s prohibition on manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and remainder of the identified single-use plastic items. The notification quoted as, “Plastic items intended to be used once for the same purpose before being disposed of or recycled”.
Meanwhile, the ban has not been implemented on several plastic products like bottles. However, the Federal Government has issued some targets on manufacturers to be responsible for disposing and recycling plastic items after being used.
The ban includes Single-use plastic items listed below :
- Plastic and Polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration.
- Packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks.
- Plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping, stirrers.
- Plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron.
In addition, the following items are prohibited under the Maharashtra Plastics and Thermocol Notifications 2018
- Compostable plastic (excluding waste and nursery bags).
- All types of plastic bags (carry bags including non-woven bags) with and without handie.
- Dish, Bowl, Container.
However, India’s prime motive is to eliminate plastic and replace it with jute.
How other countries are taking actions on plastic usage
32 countries have strictly prohibited SUP. According to the UN 127 countries implemented policies on regulating plastic bags. Whereas countries like Bangladesh, New Zealand, Costa Rica already eliminated the use of plastic bags. Recently, Costa Rica implemented a ban on SUP items as per 2021 reports, where they pledged to replace almost 80% of disposal items with non-petroleum renewable materials, also making it biodegrade with marine environment.
In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to ban the use of thin plastic bags. Not only Bangladesh but New Zealand has also restricted the use of plastic bags in 2019. 12 companies signed a declaration in 2018 committing to use 100% recyclable and reusable packaging by 2025. In 2019, Jamaica imposed a ban on importation of SUP straws and bags. China has also issued a ban on plastic bags with phased implementation in 2020.
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