MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 99 to be answered on Friday, the 22nd November, 2019 on “Ban on Single-use Plastics” by Shri Pasunoori Dayakar and Shri Venkatesh Nethaborlakunta
(a) to (c) With revolution of Indian economy, demand for products also increased. Among the various factors driving this growth, one of the most significant factor is increasing use of plastics by the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector. Plastic emerged as one of the most durable, strong, less reactive material which is also light weight. The properties of plastic are such that the raw material is very cheap and the commodities made of plastic are very easy to make. All this factors make the plastic one of the most reliable packaging material for the industries. Further, with emerging technologies and increased consumerism, plastic entered into all aspects of lifestyle making the life easier and simpler. The trends of using plastic in day to day life became so fast that most of the plastic which is produced is designed to be thrown away after being used only once. This type of plastic, which is commonly used for packaging, carrying or dispensing the commodities and include items intended to be used only once before they are discarded can be termed as ‘Single Use Plastic’ for ease of understanding.
As an outcome of this demand by consumers and increasing production and use of Single Use Plastic, a situation has arrived where the existing waste management system has to be strengthened to make the country free of Single Use Plastic.
Considering the high environmental costs associated with management of single-use plastics, particularly the adverse effect on marine environment, and the need for a definitive response supplementing actions undertaken by various States/UTs to combat single-use plastic pollution, Hon’ble Prime Minister has announced India’s pledge to phase out Single-use plastic by 2022.
As pronounced by Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Ministry is working on the principle of 6R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture.) to combat with plastic pollution. In this perspective and to promote ecologically sustainable and green alternatives of plastics, the Ministry has subsequently issued “Standard Guidelines on Single Use Plastic” with suggested different set of actions for State/UT Government to minimize the usage of single use plastics.
Further, on the call of Hon''ble Prime Minister, a three-phase campaign “Swachhta Hi Sewa” (SHS) was launched from 11th Sep, 2019, which ended on Diwali i.e. 27th October 2019. This campaign inter-alia focused on awareness, advocacy, collection and safe disposal of littered plastic.
Under the campaign,all stakeholdersi.e. general public, students, industry, governments and local bodies came together and collectedwasteplastic from houses, streets, public places like parks, beaches, markets, religious and tourist places etc. Urban Local Bodies, Gram Panchayats, Government organisations and others made arrangements to deposit the collected plastic waste at designated locations for recycling.Start-ups, technical bodies and corporates came forward with their plans to recycle the collected waste. Eventual goal of the campaign was that the plastic waste is not dumped on land or into water but is recycled in environmentally sound manner. The campaign has achieved its near-term goal of creating awareness on the menace of plastic pollution. Emerging out of the above campaign, the local bodies and States have set up systems for collection and safe disposal of such waste.
(d) The Government has notified Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 for environmentally sound management of plastic waste and to prevent plastic pollution in the country. The generators of waste under the Rules have been mandated to take steps to minimize generation of plastic waste, not to litter plastic waste, ensure segregated storage of waste at source and handover the segregated waste to the local bodies or agencies authorised by them or registered waste pickers or registered recyclers. For proper regulation and sound recycling of plastic, provisions have been made for registration of all plastic recyclers with respective State/UT Pollution Control Boards/Committees.Every Urban Local body has been made responsible for setting up of infrastructure for collection, segregation and processing, including recycling and disposal of plastic waste. The local bodies have also been mandated to create awareness among all stakeholders about their respective responsibilities.
(e) Representations are received for various small and medium enterprises for exemptions from the obligations under the mechanism of Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) as introduced in the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. Their suggestion was that small producers less than 1000 metric tons of material or having turnover up to 25 Crores be excluded from the EPR responsibilities, except for lump sum fee based on total turnover.
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