INDIA CHOOSES TO ‘REGULATE’, NOT BAN, SINGLE-USE PLASTIC

• India is in favour of “regulating”, and not eliminating, single-use plastic, ahead of week-long negotiations involving 192 countries that are expected to begin in Toronto, Canada, next week on getting the globe to progress on eliminating plastic pollution.
• In 2022, India brought into effect the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules (2021) that banned 19 categories of ‘single-use plastics.
• India has opted for language in the current version of the negotiating document, called a ‘zero draft’, that vouches for “regulating” instead of “not allowing”, the production, sale, import and export of problematic and avoidable plastic goods. It has, however, agreed to “science-based criteria” for identifying such plastics.
• The aim of negotiating countries is to implement global and national measures such as removing these products from the market, reducing production through alternative practices or non-plastic substitutes, and redesigning problematic items to meet criteria for sustainable and safe product design.

SINGLE USE PLASTIC: –

• Single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel–based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use—often, in mere minutes.
• Have huge carbon footprint.
• Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and service ware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags.

U.S Stand on this: –

The United States also has a position closer to that of India and is not in favour of an outright stoppage of single use and avoidable plastics.