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DNA Explainer: Single-use plastic ban in India from July 1, what it means for you

Single-use plastics or disposable plastics, as the name suggests, are used only once before they are thrown away and often they cannot be recycled.

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From henceforth, single-use plastic will stop in India. The Centre has banned the use of single-use plastic from July 1. This includes the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic items, that are identified as those having low utility and high littering potential.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has announced a Comprehensive Action Plan aimed at strengthening India's commitment to ban identified single-use plastic items.

Read | Single-use plastic ban from July 1: Here’s all you need to know

What is single-use plastic?

Single-use plastics or disposable plastics, as the name suggests, are used only once before they are thrown away. Often these kinds of plastic are not disposed of properly and cannot be recycled. We produce roughly 300 million tons of plastic each year, most of which cannot be recycled.

World-wide only 10-13% of plastic items are recycled. The nature of petroleum based disposable plastic makes it difficult to recycle and they have to add new virgin materials and chemicals to it to do so. Additionally, there are a limited number of items where recycled plastic can be used.

Single-use plastic items include plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles and most food packaging. Plastic bags of thickness less than 120 microns will also be phased out from December 31, 2022 in India. it has been projected that single-use plastic could account for 5-10% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

India features in the top 100 countries of single-use plastic waste generation. Since most of the single-use plastics cannot be recycled, it is obvious that we need to use less plastic in that case and move towards environmentally sustainable products and services and come up with technology that recycles plastic more efficiently. 

Why the need to ban single-use plastics?

Plastic waste present a colossal threat to the ecology. International Union for Conservation of Nature data suggests that the world produces over 300 million tonnes of plastic every year, of which 14 million tonnes end up in the ocean. With time, plastics break down into highly toxic microplastics.

Plastic waste is one of the biggest contributors to pollution in the country. More than 34 lakh tonnes of plastic waste was generated in 2019-20 and 30.59 lakh tonnes in 2018-19 in India, according to data from the Centre.

Plastic does not decompose, and as a result, it remains in the same landfills that they have been buried in for millennia to come. At the same time, plastic cannot be burned as it releases toxic fumes and harmful gases during the process.

So, storage of the material remains the only viable solution apart from recycling. The leaching of plastic waste into the ground, water sources and more has been linked to the presence of dangerous microplastics. With a ban on such plastic items, India can hope to reduce its plastic waste generation figures.

What changes for you from July 1, 2022

From July 1, 2022, plastic sticks will be out of the market. These include earbuds with plastic sticks, candy sticks, ice cream sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags and thermocol (polystyrene) for decoration. Even the use of cutlery items will go through a change. 

There will be no cigarette packs, plastic plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays or even stirrers for your coffee and tea, to consume your food and beverages.

Packing and wrapping plastic films like cling films that you are used to cover sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets will vanish. Besides, even plastic or PVC banners of less than 100 microns will no longer be allowed.

According to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, there is also a complete ban on sachets using plastic material for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.

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