Single-Use Plastic Ban Begins: How Prepared Are Industries And Local Vendors Across India?

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Single-Use Plastic Ban Begins: How Prepared Are Industries And Local Vendors Across India?

Though several manufacturers have said they are not prepared to follow the ban due to a lack of alternatives, the government has said that it had given enough time to the industry and the general public to prepare for the ban.

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The ban on certain single-use plastic (SUP) items kicks in from Friday, July 1, with state governments initiating an enforcement campaign to identify and close down units engaging in the production, distribution, stocking and sale of such items.

Though several manufacturers have said they are not prepared to follow the ban due to a lack of alternatives, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said the central government had given enough time to the industry and the general public to prepare for the ban on SUP items and hopes for everyone's cooperation in implementing it from month's beginning.

The identified SUP items include earbuds, flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, polystyrene (thermocol), cups, plates, glasses, forks, spoons, straws, knives, trays, invitation cards, wrapping or packaging films around sweets boxes, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners of less than 100 microns, and stirrers.

Action Against Violation Of The Ban

Officials in the environment ministry said that violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under the bylaws of respective municipal corporations.

For effective enforcement of the ban, national and state-level control rooms have been set up, and special enforcement teams formed to check the illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned SUP items.

The government has asked the States and Union Territories to set up border checkpoints to stop the interstate movement of any banned plastic items, The Print reported.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has also launched a grievance redressal application to empower people to help curb the use of plastic. According to the CPCB, India generates nearly 2.4 lakh tonnes of SUP annually. The per capita single-use plastic production is 0.18 kg per year.

Officials said that plastic used for packaging in the FMCG sector is not banned but will be covered under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines. The EPR is a producer's responsibility to ensure environmentally-sound management of the product until the end of its life.

On August 12, 2021, the ministry had issued a notification prohibiting the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified SUP items, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, from July 1, 2022.

Are Industries Ready For It?

According to NDTV, Frooti and Appy maker Parle Agro's CEO, Schauna Chauhan said the government should consider extending the deadline by six months. "It is critical to extend the deadline for developing local manufacturing capacities," Chauhan said.

Chauhan also said that 80% of the integrated straws are recycled, and countries like China and Thailand have allowed their use. She also mentions that it is unclear what would happen to the current stocks if the ban is enforced on July 1.

Dairy giant Amul also urged the government to delay the ban by one year and said the move will have a "negative impact" on farmers and milk consumption. Even as FMCG firms are all set to follow the ban on SUP effective from July 1 by adopting alternatives, most companies do not intend to pass on the additional costs to the consumers, at least in the short term.

RS Sodhi, MD of Anand-based Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns India's largest food and dairy brand Amul, told Financial Express, "Though we had sought some extra time to prepare alternatives, we have locally procured a part of our requirement of biodegradable plastic straws, besides paper straws from South Korea and China that will be delivered by the mid of this month."

Amul has a daily requirement of nearly one million small straws for its bestselling tetra pack sweet lassi, Masti Chaas and Tru flavoured milks alone.

Other FMCG giants Dabur, Vadilal, Rasna, Emami, etc, are also set to meet the challenge. Consumer goods major Dabur, which has a vast market share in the health drinks market with its Real brand of fruit juices, is also a significant user of straws. "Dabur has already started the production of Real juice packs with integrated paper straws. We are committed to meeting the regulations and will ensure that all packs come with integrated paper straws," said Shahrukh Khan, ED, operations, Dabur India.

As per industry estimates, the cost per unit of a paper straw is 30-40 paise, while that of plastic is 10-15 paise.

How Aware Are The Local Vendors?

Though a complete ban on single-use plastics will be imposed across the country, street vendors and shopkeepers are neither aware nor ready to follow the order.

"We have no idea that plastic bags will be banned from July 1. Nobody told us about it. The ban will work only when customers bring their own cloth bags or give us some time to make arrangements to ready the alternatives," said Basant Sahu, a fruit vendor from Bhubaneswar, told The Times of India.

A small fast food vendor from Sector 50, Noida told NDTV, "I have heard about plastic bans for many years now. Initially, it was on plastic bags – but you still find these being used by us small vendors. Why because there is no suitable, cost-effective alternative for the same."

Another Dosa Van vendor from the same market added that he uses single-use plastic cutlery items because they are cheap. He said that unless some viable solutions at the exact cost are not available in the market, such bans will be ineffective.

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