India will ban the production and use of single-use plastics across the country from 1 July, as part of government efforts to phase out single-use plastics by the end of this year.
The ban will affect producers of single-use plastics, potentially weakening demand for virgin polymers. India had a production capacity of 6.1mn t/yr of polyethylene and 5.6mn t/yr of polypropylene in 2021.
The prohibited items include plastic utensils and dining ware, as well as packaging for certain items such as boxes containing sweets, cigarette packets and party items such as plastic balloon sticks and flags and invitation cards. India generated around 3.47mn t of plastic waste from April 2019 to March 2020, the federal government's Central Pollution Control Board data show.
The single-use plastics ban falls under the Plastic Waste Amendment Rules, 2021 that the Indian government announced in August last year.
The rules mandate that plastic bags must have a thickness of at least 75 microns from 30 September 2021, and at least 120 microns from 31 December this year.
The Indian government will form special enforcement teams to ensure that the ban on single-use plastics is enforced. State and union territory governments will set up border checkpoints to stop interstate movement of prohibited items.
