Ban on single use plastic starting July 1 will not be deferred: Minister

Control rooms to be set up for implementation of the ministry order, says Bhupinder Yadav

Single-use plastics' ban, which will come into force on July 1, is unlikely to see an extension in the deadline, Union environment minister Bhupinder Yadav said.

The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change had notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, in August last year.

The rules mandated a ban on manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high-littering potential, in the country from July 1. This would cover rigid plastic items such as plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, wrapping or packaging films, PVC banners less than 100 micron, straws and stirrers.

The industry size of single-use plastics is estimated to be Rs 10,000 crore.

The ban also covers high single-use plastic products such as ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks on balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice cream sticks and thermocol for decoration.

Several fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies have clamoured against the ban, citing the high cost of alternatives. This, in turn, will increase the cost of final products, they said.

Plastic straws are used with tetra juice boxes by leading companies such as Pepsico, Dabur and Parle Agro, among others. These are also the companies, which have reportedly asked the government to defer the ban to a later date.

Yadav, however, said the industry was given one year to prepare and there would be no relaxation in the ban.
 

“We are expecting cooperation from the FMCG industry. The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which are currently manufacturing single-use plastics, would be urged to shift to making alternatives. We would run awareness programmes. The government is committed to the initiative and will not take a step back,” Yadav said.

This paper recently reported that leading companies with a collective turnover of ~6,000 crore alone consume about six billion straws every year.

These would need to be replaced with paper straws, which are costlier. India currently does not have domestic manufacturing capacity for this.

Parle Agro, makers of Frooti and Appy, had said the industry may have to close factory operations if the deadline is not extended, this paper reported recently.

Additionally, the MSMEs have also expressed their concern, saying that a blanket ban could lead to job losses.

Ministry officials said capacity-building workshops would be organised for MSMEs. These would provide them technical assistance for manufacturing alternatives.

The workshops would be held by central/state pollution control boards along with the ministry of small, micro and medium enterprises and the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering.

For effective enforcement of the ban, national and state control rooms would be set up.

Also, special enforcement teams will be formed for checking illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic items, said officials.