Dimapur, May 6 (MExN): Dimapur Deputy Commissioner Rajesh Soundararajan has issued an order stating that the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, have been prohibited with effect from July 1, 2022.
The order was issued in pursuance to the notification (No.UDD/7-GEN/07-PWM/2018 Pt-1) dated March 11, 2022 issued by the Urban Development Department and in partial modification to another office order of even number dated August 5, 2019, prohibiting identified single-use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential, by 2022 and with a view to eradicate the menace of plastic and the serious environment and ecological challenges posed by rampant use of plastic, it said.
Other banned items include earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, and polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration, along with plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays, wrapping or packaging films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
“The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastic shall not be less than 75 (seventy-five) microns in thickness w.e.f. the 30th September 2021 and 120 (one hundred and twenty) microns in thickness w.e.f. the 31st December 2022. Further, a non-woven plastic carry bag shall not be less than 60 Gram per Square Meter (GSM) w.e.f. the 30th September 2022,” it stated.
All other clauses mandated in the “Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016” and “Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021” should be strictly adhered to, the order stated.
The DC also asked all individuals, institutions, commercial establishments, educational institutions, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants, religious institutions and faith-based institutions, industrial establishments, banquet halts, etc., and central and state government departments, agencies, commissions, PSUs, Missions, etc., including military and paramilitary in the state to abide the order. Any breach will be liable for penalties, it said.
