From July 1, single-use plastic will be banned in India. The Centre has barred the manufacturing, distribution, importing, sale, stocking and use of all single-use plastic, comprising polystyrene and expanded polystyrene commodities (from July 1) across the country. Let’s understand what this ban means for you and what all items are being banned.
What Is Single-Use Plastic?
Also called disposable plastics, single-use plastics, as the name suggests are discarded after being used once. These kinds of plastics are often not disposed of appropriately and cannot be recycled as well. According to a 2021 report by the Minderoo Foundation, one of the Australian philanthropic organisations, single-use plastics constitute around a third of all plastic produced worldwide. It also accounts for the majority of plastic being thrown away – 130 million metric tonnes globally in 2019 – and all of it is burned, buried in landfills or scrapped directly into the environment, the report added.