India’s capital city of New Delhi on Friday enacted a ban on single-use plastics for everything from straws to cigarette packs in an effort to tackle the country’s rising pollution levels and littered streets.
The government disregarded the requests of the food, beverage, and consumer items industries to delay the limitation in order to prevent disruptions when it announced the ban.
The pollution brought on by plastic waste has significantly increased in India, the second-most populous country in the world.
The need for products that include single-use plastic accessories, such as straws and disposable cutlery, has grown as a consequence of the quickening of the economy.
Used plastic items that eventually clog sewers, rivers, and oceans and also harm wildlife are all over the streets of towns.
Straws, utensils, earbuds, packaging films, plastic sticks for balloons, confectionery and ice cream, and cigarette packs are one of the items that India has banned, according to a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration.
Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Parle Agro of India, Dabur, and Amul have fought to remove straws from the law.
The government has currently exempted plastic bags, which is a comfort for consumers, but it has urged importers and producers to increase the thickness to encourage reuse.
Plastic producers have also voiced their dissatisfaction with the prohibition, claiming it did not allow them enough time to prepare for the limitation. This is in addition to complaints from the food, beverage, and consumer products industries.
According to some experts, it might be challenging to enforce the restriction. The government has made the decision to establish control rooms to monitor any unauthorized distribution, sale, or usage of single-use plastic products.
According to the UN, 100 million tonnes of plastic waste have been dumped into the oceans, posing an increasing problem. Significant levels of microplastic have been discovered by scientists in the intestines of ocean mammals
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