notice on alternatives of plastic features and provisions
Answers
The draft Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2021, issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on March 11, has necessitated a few changes in the country’s handling of its plastic waste.
One, the amendment has extended the applicability of the rules to brand-owner, plastic waste processor, including the recycler, co-processor, etc. It will also include new definitions of:
Non-woven plastic bag
Plastic waste processing
Single-use plastic (SUP) item
Thermoset plastic
Thermoplastic
The Union ministry has proposed increasing the thickness of carry bags made of virgin plastic to 120 microns from 50 microns.
The draft also proposes a ban on the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of specific single-use plastic from January 1, 2022. These include plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, and thermocol (extended polystyrene) for decoration.
The draft is open for public suggestion for 60 days for consideration by the central government, following which it will be published in the Gazette of India.
