India banned single-use plastics almost 2 years ago. Did it work?
- India banned single-use products such as plastic bags, cutlery, straws, food packaging on July 1, 2022 but such items remain widely in use
- For the law to work, analysts suggest a sustained implementation strategy and better availability of economically feasible non-plastic substitutes
A nearly two-year ban in India on single-use plastics (SUP) has failed to stem rampant proliferation and manufacturing of such items across the country, analysts say, putting the blame on the authorities’ “weak enforcement on the ground”.
SUP products such as plastic bags, cutlery, straws, food packaging, and disposable water bottles were outlawed by the government from July 1, 2022.
A senior official at the Federal Agency of Central Pollution Control Board in October 2022 admitted that the measure did not have the desired effect as SUPs, including a banned grade of carry bags, are still circulating in the low-end section of the economy.
Analysts say lax supervision and a reluctance across cost-sensitive small businesses to embrace non-plastic alternatives have made the law toothless in a country that generates about 5.5 million tonnes of SUP waste annually, the New Delhi-based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said in a February report.
“During the first few months of the ban, actions were taken for non-compliance. Later, the authorities stopped being as watchful,” said Priti Mahesh, chief programme coordinator of environmental NGO Toxics Link in New Delhi.
