The rules, released Feb. 7, must still be implemented by state-level environmental departments and municipal governments, and enforcement rests largely with local governments, so it's unclear what form they might finally take at the local level.
But they do represent a potentially major change to the country's plastics waste management policies, which were last rewritten in 2003.
In announcing the rules, Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh rejected bans on plastics and said it is important to improve municipal waste-collection systems.
“It is impractical and undesirable to impose a blanket ban on the use of all plastic all over the country," said Ramesh. “The real challenge is to improve municipal solid-waste management systems. In addition to the privatization and mechanization of the … systems, we must be sensitive to the needs and concerns of the [hundreds of thousands] of people involved in the informal sector."
The rules could help improve plastics recycling and reduce litter if they result in more materials being collected, said one Indian plastics industry source who requested anonymity but who has closely followed environmental issues and served on industry environmental groups. Read the full report here.
Source: by Steve Toloken,  Plastics News Staff, Plastics News.com.
