Bags of problems

 Nagaland becomes the latest to issue a complete ban on single-use plastic after the cabinet decided on it on June 10,2019. According to the notification in the Nagaland Gazette stated, the ban will come into effect three months after the notification dated June 17,2019. Plastic items banned include- 1.all plastic carry bags, with or without handles, irrespective of thickness and size; 2. plastic cutlery including plates, plastic cups, straws, stirrers etc, 3. cutlery and other decorative made of styrofoam (thermocol) and 4.polythene, nylon, poly-vinyl-carbohydrates, poly-propylene and poly-Styrene. While the notification informed about the ban, yet there was no mention about penalty imposed on violation of the ban. In other states, using a plastic bag can attract fines–from Rs 500 to Rs 25,000-and storage and distribution can lead to imprisonment up to five years. By the beginning of this year, local governments in more than half of India’s 29 states and 7 territories had crafted legislation taking aim at single-use plastic. Twenty Indian states have a complete ban on manufacture, supply and storage of polythene bags and other plastic items such as cups, plates, spoons, glasses while five states have a partial ban. With a population of 1.35 billion, India is saddled with more than 550,000 tons of mismanaged plastic waste reaching the ocean every year. Experts have estimated that annual waste generation in India will increase to 165 million tonnes by 2030. This means that around 66,000 hectares of land is needed to set up a landfill site which is 10 metres high and can hold up to 20 years’ waste. With global concerns on the threat posed on the environment by plastic, the ban will cause much problems since alternatives are not easily available. Scientists estimate that every square mile of oceans contains about 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. Plastics take around 500 to 1000 years to completely degrade due to the presence of complex polymers. As a result, till now whatever bit of plastic has ever been manufactured or used by us can be found in some form or the other on the planet. According to The World Economic Forum study done on plastic pollution around the world, Oceans will have more plastics than fish by 2050, if plastic pollution continues to rise. India’s contribution to plastic waste that is dumped into the world’s oceans every year is a massive 60%.Governments face resistance from manufacturers and wholesalers of plastic products. State governments are also working to reduce the manufacturing of plastic by shutting down factories and preventing import of plastic products. Convincing consumers to shift away from the convenience of plastics is not easily accomplished. What is needed is alternative to plastic items especially in packaging and carry bags. Earlier, brown paper bags were used but the weight they could hold was limited unlike plastic bags. Besides not being water proof, 70 percent of the “new” bags provided at stores are made from recycled paper themselves. Plastic bags are easily available and convenient. It will be a big task replace single-use plastic primarily since customers are not charged for carry bags. The government could offer incentives to any small scale industry for the manufacture of biodegradable package or carry bags. However , what needs to be borne in mind is the issue of environment that which has to be protected by all means.