Published in Dwarka Express on 22.7.23

One year back, from July 1^st, 2022, Single Use Plastic (SUP) was banned all over India as per CPCB directive, heeding to the clarion call of the Prime Minister of India. Will banning SUP eliminate plastic? In fact the ban was severely criticized from its inception because the portion of SUP may be 2%-3% of the total plastic waste generated in India, as per industry estimates. So critics were not enthusiastic about the ban. The list of banned items includes -ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, etc. And it was optimistically hoped that the ban would eliminate SUPs at the first instance. Secondly the thinner plastic material will clog the drains and do much harm that the reusable plastics.

But unfortunately, if any researcher makes an analysis of the impact of SUP Ban, he would find the apparent results. Perhaps, his conclusions might be “Ban of SUP has little impact or negligible results” Even today, when we reach any vegetable vendor without a bag, the thin SUP carry bag comes handy for the seller as well as the buyer. Seller uses it because of his helplessness and lack of awareness. The educated buyers, which includes all of us, have the feeling that one polythene bag would not affect environment. Or he may not regret much and would simply blame Government and manufacturers for the failure of the ban. He perhaps is partially true, because the ban on manufacturing is not completely followed or monitored effectively. On the part of the consumer, social consciousness is lacking

All over the world, 300 million tons of plastics are produced and a whooping 91% of the same is not recycled at all. When plastic has become an integral part of our life, it is not possible to completely eliminate the same. Stopping the production will end in loss of employment. It is therefore necessary that SUP at least be completely eliminated from circulation. It is possible with more tab on production ban on one hand and stricter penalties for the usage. In India, it is not that the rules are broken by all. While corporates like Big Basket have started giving compostable bags in lieu of SUP bags. Many medical shops, provision shops and many super markets offer paper bags. But the movement is not gaining momentum. Even now, it is reliably learnt that polythene bags, are available online from leading online companies.

Dr V Selvarajan