Bihar government has asked all the e-commerce companies, shopping centres, malls, cinema halls, hospitals, and schools to phase out single-use plastic products by June 30. The Bihar State Pollution Control Board has issued a notification asking manufacturers, dealers, distributors, and sellers of single-use plastic products to clear their stocks by June 30 as the production, sale, and purchase of these products will be completely banned from July 1 this year.
Some of these identified single-use plastic items, which will be banned this year are cups, glasses, cigarette packets, invitation cards, sweet boxes, wrapping or packing films around sweets boxes, trays, straw etc.
Last week, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the guidelines on extended producers’ responsibility on plastic packaging under Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
As per the ministry, the guidelines on extended producer responsibility (EPR) coupled with the prohibition of identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, with effect from July 1, 2022, are important steps for reducing pollution caused due to littered plastic waste in the country.
At a significant first, the guidelines allow for the sale and purchase of surplus extended producer responsibility certificates, thus setting up a market mechanism for plastic waste management.
The implementation of EPR will be done through a customized online platform which will act as the digital backbone of the system.
The online platform will allow tracking and monitoring of EPR obligations and will reduce the compliance burden for companies through online registration and filing of annual returns.
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