Single–use plastic items bid adieu from 1st July, 2022. With the motive to save and help the environment from the hurdles faced due to plastic pollution, the Central Government of India has banned the usage of single–use plastic items. Single–use plastic items refer to items that are used only once and are discarded after immediate use. The amount of plastic used worldwide is manufactured for the production of single–use plastic items such as packaging of items, bottles, polythene bags, face masks, coffee cups, trash bags, food packaging, etc.
Although plastic has many uses, we have become dependent on single–use plastic products, which has serious environmental, social, economic, and health consequences. Worldwide, one million plastic bottles are purchased every minute, while up to 5 trillion plastic bags are used globally each year. The idea of banning single–use plastic items was to battle the growing crisis of waste generated from it.
The Ministry for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change issued the notification last year in August announcing a ban on single–use plastic beginning July 2022. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has now issued detailed guidance on what will be banned from the market from 1 July and the penalties that come with it. The notice states: “The manufacture, import, storage, distribution, sale and use of single–use plastics, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, products such as cutlery, including plates, cups will be banned from July 1, 2022.”
List Of Items That Will Be Banned From July 1, 2022
According to the notification following items will be banned
– Balloon sticks
– Cigarette packs
– Cutlery items including plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays – Earbuds
– Sweet boxes
– Candy and ice cream sticks
– Invitation cards
– Polystyrene for decoration
– PVC banners measuring under 100 microns
– Cigarette packs
– Cutlery items including plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays – Earbuds
– Sweet boxes
– Candy and ice cream sticks
– Invitation cards
– Polystyrene for decoration
– PVC banners measuring under 100 microns
Ashwin Bhadri, CEO of Equinox Labs says, ”The guidelines set up by the MINISTRY and CPCB was necessary because the amount of plastic used is 36% of the total plastic produced is used in packaging, including single–use plastic products for food and beverage containers, approximately 85 percent of which ends up in landfills or as unregulated waste.
Equinox Labs is a leading FSSAI Approved and NABL Accredited Food, Water, and Air Testing Lab with 16+ years of experience. With a PAN-India presence, they are also Industry Leaders in Food Safety Auditing and FoSTaC Training.
He added, “Environment ministry says that plastic pollution is a big threat to the environment, as it remains in the environment for a long time and turns into microplastic which eventually enters the food sources and indirectly enters the human body. Therefore it was to take this vital decision as it will have a great impact on the environment as well as the human body.”