Candy & ice-cream sticks made of plastic might be phased-out from Jan next year: Centre

Candy sticks and ice-cream sticks made of plastic might be phased away starting January 1, 2022, according to the Centre's announcement to Parliament on Friday, July 23. In response to a question about the single-use plastic phase-out schedule, Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Choubey said that, according to a proposal notification released earlier this year, the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of some of the identified single-use plastic items will be prohibited by January 1, 2022.

Plastic sticks in balloons might be banned from next January 

Single-use plastic (including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene) items such as plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, straw, container and container lids, trays, and plastic/PVC banners less than 100 microns are proposed to be phased out by January 1.

Carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastic less than 120 microns in thickness, as well as non-woven plastic carry bags less than 60 GSM (g per square metre) or 240 microns in thickness, are among the single-use plastic items expected to be phased out by September 30 this year, according to the minister in a written response to the Lok Sabha.

No single-use plastic

On March 11, 2021, the Ministry of Environment released a notification for public comment including new regulations for revising the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016, which included limiting the use of selected single-use plastic items by 2022. In response to another question about the steps taken to strengthen the implementation of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, as well as to reduce the use of identified single-use plastic items, the minister stated that the states/UTs have been asked to form a special task force under the chief secretary or administrator.

"Already, 14 states/UTs have constituted the special task force till date. A national-level task force has also been constituted by the ministry for taking coordinated efforts to eliminate identified single-use plastic items and effective implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016," he said.

The state and UT governments, as well as the relevant central ministries and departments, have been asked to develop a comprehensive action plan for the elimination of single-use plastics and the effective implementation of the rules in a timely manner, he said, adding that the government has been taking steps to raise awareness about the issue.

(with inputs from PTI)

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