Lok Sabha Question No. 3123 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-06
Subject: Single-use Plastic
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shobha Karandlaje

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION No.3123 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06/12/2019

## Single-use Plastic

## 3123. KUMARI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government  has launched any campaign focused on awareness, advocacy, collection and safe disposal of littered plastic and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the quantum of plastic waste collected and sent for environmentally sound recycling/disposal during the last three years;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  issued  Standard  Guidelines  on  single-use  plastic  for minimization of usage of such plastic and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  any  Expert  Group  has  been  constituted  for  Research  and  Development related  to  Oxo-Biodegradable Technology of plastic as an  alternative and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the amount of funds allocated and spent since 2016 on Research and Development to develop an alternative to single-use plastic?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a)   and (b) Hon'ble Prime Minister has announced India's pledge to phase out all Singleuse plastic by 2022. In this perspective, to create mass awareness among the common public, plastic industry, recycling units and other stakeholders, a three-phase campaign of 'Swachhta Hi Sewa' was launched by Hon'ble Prime Minister from 11th Sep, 2019, which ended on Diwali  i.e.  27th  October  2019.  This  campaign  inter-alia  focused  on  awareness,  advocacy, collection and safe disposal of littered plastic.

Under the campaign, all stakeholders i.e. general public, students, industry, governments and local bodies came together and collected waste plastic from houses, streets, public places like parks,  beaches,  markets,  religious  and  tourist  places  etc.  Urban  Local  Bodies,  Gram Panchayats, Government organisations and others made arrangements to deposit the collected plastic waste at designated locations for recycling. Start-ups, technical bodies and corporates came forward with their plans to recycle the collected waste. Eventual goal of the campaign was  that  the  plastic  waste  is  not  dumped  on  land  or  into  water  but  is  recycled  in environmentally  sound  manner.  The  campaign  has  achieved  its  near-term  goal  of  creating awareness  on  the  menace  of  plastic  pollution.  It  is  estimated  that  around  25,940  T/day  of plastic waste is generated in India. Approximately 15,384 T/day, which is 60% of the total plastic waste generated in the country, is collected and recycled.

Under the National Green Corps (NGC) programme of the Ministry, about one lakh schools have  been  identified as Eco-clubs, wherein, nearly thirty lakh students are actively participating in various environment protection and conservation activities, including Plastic Waste Management and other issues related to the environment management;

In order to plan sustainable tourism and healthy coastal managementa beach cleaning drive campaign called 'I#AM#SAVING#MY#BEACH' (Intensive Beach Cleaning & Environment Education  Activity)was  initiated  to  clean  50  beaches  from  11th  Nov  to  17th Nov, 2019.

(c) The Ministry issued 'Standard Guidelines on Single Use Plastic' on January 2019, with  suggested  different  set  of  actions  for  State/UT  Government  to  minimize  the  usage  of single use plastics. These Guidelines were issued to the Chief Secretaries and the Principal Secretaries of all States/UTs for wide implementation in respective offices and States.

An attempt has been made in the guidelines to target those kinds of Single Use Plastic for which  alternatives  are  readily  available.  Such  as  jute  bags,  cloth  bags,  paper  bags  are available as an alternative to plastic carry bags. Similarly, sufficient alternatives available for the  plastic  cutlery  like  paper  plates  and  leaf  plates,  paper/earthen  cups  and  glass,  wooden spoons, paper straws, multi-layered (aluminium + paper) pouches in place of container and container lids, wooden trays, stirrers made of wood. Apart from the traditional material, the new material like bagasse-based products, banana stem-based products are widely available in market.

(d) to (e) An expert group has been constituted by Central Institute of Plastics Engineering & Technology (CIPET) for research and development related to Oxo-Biodegradable Technology  on  plastic  as  an  alternate  plastic  material.  The  CPCB  is  also  working  on  the information available on the subject of bio-degradable/compostable plastics including OxoBiodegradable plastic or any other alternatives.

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