Plastic Ban

These efforts are in line to do away with single-use plastic in Uttar Pradesh and avoid wastage of paper to protect the environment

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags to take effect next year, the latest initiative aimed at reducing pollution in the oil-rich nation. The law would prohibit the import, production and circulation of such bags from January 1, 2024, according to an announcement carried by the state-run WAM news agency. A similar ban would apply to plastic cups, plates and cutlery from January 1, 2026. The UAE, a major oil producer and the host of this year's United Nations climate summit, has declared it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 a target that remains difficult to assess. Plastic bags are known as one of the most problematic kinds of garbage, polluting streets and waterways and harming birds and marine life. Plastic takes decades to degrade and microscopic particles have been found inside the bodies of fish, birds and other animals. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, imposed a ban on single-use plastics in June, and the futurist

Plastics industry groups have called for a focus on recycling

The Maharashtra government has permitted the production of straws, cups, plates, forks and spoons made from 'compostable' materials by making changes to the policy on single-use plastic, a senior official said here on Friday. Satish Darade, secretary of the Environment and Climate Change department, told reporters that a panel which studied the ban on single-use plastic and thermocol items, headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, decided to permit items made from compostable material. But it will be mandatory to get approval for these products from the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) and Central Pollution Control Board, he said. The move will give relief to plastic product manufacturers, he said. There was a demand to allow production of single-use items made from degradable materials, Darade said. In 2018, the Maharashtra government had imposed a ban on single-use plastic.

Fines worth Rs 41 lakh issued in a week; more than 4,000 violations detected

The menace of plastic pollution cannot be mitigated without ensuring plastic-product manufacturers' stringent compliance with the extended producer responsibility

With 19 single-use plastic items banned from July 1, including the straws, companies including Dabur India Ltd. and Parle Agro Pvt, have been racing to replace them with imported paper versions

Small businesses say they were not consulted about the restriction and they can't refuse customers

He also claimed the Union government did not even call a meeting of state environment ministers before the ban came into force.

Cotton and jute are both vying for space in the domestic market after making global inroads; business goes beyond carry bags to embrace earbuds, thermacol, kitchenware. among others

A ban on the use of single-use plastics was notified by the Union Environment Ministry in August 2021 and came into effect on July 1

India ranks as the fifth-highest country in the generation of plastic waste with an annual discharge of 3.5 million tonne in fiscal year 2020, according to a note by Kotak Institutional Equities.

The Delhi government will also provide incentives to SUP manufacturing units willing to switch over to green alternatives.

However, beverage companies have resorted to different measures to ensure that stocks in the supply chain are not sold with plastic straws

The government will give top priority to creating awareness against the use of SUP items and providing their alternatives to people, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said.

In a bid to implement the ban on single-use plastic smoothly, the Union environment ministry said that the state governments will initiate an enforcement campaign

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

"Applications of 49 brand owners and 59 importers were rejected for multiple reasons," said a senior official from the CPCB

Industry grouse - 22 products have been banned although they are fully recyclable, while non-recyclable packaging used by FMCG firms have been let off