New Delhi, August 13: The Central Government has taken an important step towards making India single-use plastic-free by July 1, 2022. The Environment Ministry has issued a notification of the revised rules for plastic waste management. Under these rules, from September 30, 2021, plastic of 50 microns will be completely banned. Instead, plastic bags of 120 micron thickness can now be used.
The rules have been made stricter in response to the demand to tackle the menace of plastic waste on a large scale across the country. At present, bags with a thickness of less than 50 microns are strictly prohibited. From December 31 next year, polythene bags of thickness less than 75 microns and bags of less than 120 microns will be banned.
The notification issued by the Environment Ministry states that with effect from July 1, 2022, there will be a ban on the production, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastics including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene.
