Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) rules. The main objective of the regulations is to ban all single-use plastic items that create litter.
The Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) rules also provide notice about the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules for single-use plastic packaging. It was launched to amend the prior Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, eradicate the use of single-use plastics, and find an alternative solution.
What are the plastic waste management rules for 2016?
The rules’ primary purpose was to minimise plastic use, prevent wastage, ensure a separate collection of waste for recycling later, avoid littering plastic waste, etc. According to the rules of 2016, the local bodies of Gram Panchayat, the public, retailers, and street vendors will be responsible for taking care of and managing any plastic waste near their surroundings. The rules also have a provision for an independent body which can keep an eye on the functions of the government bodies.
Single-use plastic and India
Single-use plastics are only used once in a lifetime and must be thrown away or recycled. Some single-use plastics are plastic polythene, straws, cups, bottles etc. It is noted that India consumes 11 kilogrammes of plastic in a single year. The average consumption of plastic is 28 kg. India generates about 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste in a single day.
Why were plastics banned?
- The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) banned single-use plastic and gave some reasons. The reasons are
- The non-biodegradable nature of the plastic, which takes years to dispose of,
- Waste plastic bags are harmful to the animals as they chew them, which creates slow poison in their stomach.
- The waste plastic bags release chemicals into the soil, which makes it more infertile.
- It also leads to drainage problems, as the roots block the drains.
- Plastic bags are a significant source of land and water pollution.
A guide to amendment rules
- Under the amendment rules, manufacturing, import, export, sale, purchase, and distribution of polystyrene and expanded polystyrene will be prohibited from July 1, 2022.
- The polystyrene and expanded polystyrene consist of plastic balloons and candies, ice cream sticks, thermocol, use and throw plates, cups, glasses, invitation cards, packets of cigarettes, PVC banners, wrapping polythene, etc.
- Apart from these, the thickness of plastics also matters. The thickness of plastic carry bags has increased from 50 microns to 75 microns and 120 microns. This step has been taken so people can reuse plastic carry bags due to their thickness and weight.
- A special task force will be enforced in the states as well as in the union territories of India.
- Awareness among the masses will also be generated regarding the use of plastics.
- According to rule 4 (1) (b) of the plastic waste management rules, those carry bags made up of recycled plastic can be used at home for storing, moving, dispensing, or packing things instead of throwing them away.
Categories of plastic packaging
The plastic packaging is divided based on the thickness and consistency of the plastic. These categories are as follows
- 1st category
Category 1 consists of all the rigid plastic packaging.
- 2nd category
It has flexible plastic packaging with a single or double layer, such as plastic sheets, carry bags, etc.
- 3rd category
It consists of multilayer plastic packaging. Here, multilayer stands for coating of plastic and coating of another material.
- 4th category
It has a plastic sheet or carry bags made of compostable plastic.
