Table of contents

Causes

Effects

Laws in India

• The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
• The Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011
• The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016
• Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018

Implementation

• Draft of  Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021

Conclusion

Causes

Is plastic a bigger threat to our future than nuclear weapons? India generates about 5.6 million metric tons of plastic waste annually; however, the waste generated cannot be digested by our planet. Plastic takes thousands of years to degrade. This is due to the complex polymer structure in plastic which is not easily decomposable.  According to The World Economic Forum (WEF) report on plastic pollution around the world, India’s contribution to plastic waste that is dumped into the world’s oceans every year is a massive 60%. And by 2050 Oceans will have more plastics than fish, if plastic pollution continues to rise. The main reason behind the plastic havoc is due to the fact that there are very few legislations in India to deal with plastic waste management whereas, in other countries such as USA and UK there are ample number of legislations present with effective implementation.

Effect

To implement the legislations more effectively and to give thrust on plastic waste minimization, source segregation, recycling, involving waste pickers, recyclers and waste processors in collection of plastic waste fraction either from households or any other source of its generation or intermediate material recovery facility and adopt polluter’s pay principle for the sustainability of the waste management system.

Laws in India

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

The formation seeds of this act were sworn at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in June, 1972, to take appropriate steps for the protection and improvement of the human environment.

Section 3 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 provides for power of the Central Government, to take all such measures as it deems necessary for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of the environment and preventing controlling and abating environmental pollution.

Section 6 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 provides rule making power of central government, by notification in the Official Gazette, in respect of all or any of the matters referred to in section 3 of the said act.

Section 8 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 restricts persons handling hazardous substances to comply with procedural safeguards as specified by the government from time to time.

Section 25 of The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 provides power of central government to make rules, by notification in the Official Gazette, for carrying out the purposes of this Act such as the standards in excess of which environmental pollutants shall not be discharged or emitted, the safeguards in compliance with which hazardous substances, and so on.  

The Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 – Key provisions

It has specified detailed condition for carry bags as follows:

1. Carry bags shall either be in natural shade which is without any added pigments or made using only those pigments and colorants which are in conformity with Indian standards.
2. No person shall use carry bags made of recycled plastics or compostable plastics for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging food stuffs.
3. No person shall manufacture, stock, distribute or sell any carry bag made of virgin or recycled or compostable plastic, which is less than 40 microns in thickness.
4. Sachets using plastic material or any other form of plastic material shall not be used for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.
5. Recycled carry bags shall conform to the Indian standard IS 14534:1998 titled as Guidelines for Recycling of Plastic.
6. Carry bags made from compostable plastics shall conform to the Indian Standard: IS/ISO 17088:2008 titled as specifications for Compostable plastics.  

It has also provided also provided for the plastic waste management as follows:

• Recycling, recovery or disposal of plastic waste shall be carried out as per the rules, regulations and standards stipulated by the Central Government.
• Recycling of plastics shall be carried out in accordance with the Indian Standard.
• The municipal authority shall be responsible for setting-up, operationalisation and co-ordination of the waste management system

o  to ensure safe collection, storage, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal of plastic waste;

o   to ensure that no damage is caused to the environment during this process;

o   to ensure setting-up of collection centres for plastic waste involving manufacturers;

o   to ensure its channelisation to recyclers;

o   to create awareness among all stakeholders about their responsibilities;

o   to engage agencies or groups working in waste management including waste pickers, and

o   to ensure that open burning of plastic waste is not permitted;

• The municipal authority may ask the manufacturers to setting-up plastic waste collection centres, either collectively or individually in line with the principle of Extended Producer’s Responsibility (EPR) to provide the required finance to establish such a collection centre.          

It also provided for the Determination of the degree of degradability and degree of disintegration of plastic material shall be as per the protocols of the Indian Standards.

It further provided registration protocol for manufacturers or recyclers that any person manufacturing or proposing to manufacture carry bags and multi‐layered plastics shall apply to the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and Pollution Control Committee (PCC) for the grant of registration or the renewal of registration.

It has also set a limit to the cost of carry bags which will be determined by municipal authority.

It has also stated that Each State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee shall prepare and submit the annual report to the Central Pollution Control Board by 30th September each year.  The Central Pollution Control Board shall prepare a consolidated annual report and submit it to the Central Government by 30th December each year.

Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018

In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 3, 6 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and in supersession of the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, the Central Government have made Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018. These rules shall apply to every waste generator, local body, Gram Panchayat, manufacturer, Importers and producer.

These rules have well defined the concept of “extended producer’s responsibility” which means the responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product until the end of its life.

It has imposed certain Conditions on manufacture, importer stocking, distribution, sale and use of carry bags, plastic sheets or like, or cover made of plastic sheet and multi-layered packaging for an eco-friendly environment. The conditions imposed are as follows:

–       Carry bags and plastic packaging shall either be in natural shade which is without any added pigments or made using only those pigments and colorants which are in conformity with Indian Standard

–       Carry bags made of recycled plastic or products made of recycled plastic shall not be used for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging ready to eat or drink food stuff

–       Carry bag made of virgin or recycled plastic, shall not be less than fifty microns in thickness

–       Carry bags made from compostable plastics shall conform to the Indian Standard.

It has further provided that the local bodies shall do plastic waste management in their respective jurisdiction. Every local body shall be responsible for development and setting up of infrastructure for segregation, collection, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of the plastic waste either on its own or by engaging agencies or producers.

It has also specifically stated the Responsibility of Gram Panchayat and Waste generator along with the responsibilities of producers, Importers and Brand Owners.

Implementation

Looking at the challenges faced in implementation of Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018 and The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 The Central Government has Draft of Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021.

A preliminary analysis of the State level action on restriction/prohibition of plastic carry bags and some single-use plastic items suggests that many challenges have been faced in the implementation of these regulatory provisions. However, some States have reportedly achieved considerable success. Whereas, 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 action supplementing the initiative undertaken by various States/UTs to combat plastic pollution, in the Draft of Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021 it is proposed that a prohibition on the manufacture, use, sale, import and handling of some of the single-use plastic items may be imposed on a pan India basis.

Draft of Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021

The Central Government proposes to issue, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, for making certain amendments in the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016

It proposes to prohibit the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of Earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [Thermocol] for decoration and any other single-use plastic commodities from 1st January, 2022.

It also proposes to prohibit the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic commodities shall be prohibited from 1st July, 2022:

1.     single-use plastic (including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene) items: plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping/packing films around sweet boxes; invitation cards; and cigarette packets, plastic/PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
2.     The above provision shall not apply to commodities (including carry bags) made of compostable plastic material.

Conclusion

Strict implementation of the above mentioned laws in the need of the hour to protect our environment from any further deterioration. Plastic is a matter of concern; it not only impacts marine and territorial animals but also causes air, water and land pollution which as a whole impacts the lives of human beings. In-depth study of the legislations present in foreign nations and the reason behind the fact that these legislation are not implemented in India effectively need to be researched upon and thereafter an effective legislation complied with awareness programs among citizens need to be launched by the government of respective states.