Plastic ban exists, but only on paper

CHENNAI: The ban on singleuse plastic has been ineffective, as per a recent survey.
Two years ago, when the single-use plastic ban kicked in, a North Chennai trader said it would not last more than a few months. However, for more than six months, people carried their own cloth bags wherever they went. The corporation had collected more than ?1cr in fine as well and conducted daily raids in shops and restaurants.But now, two years after the plastic ban in the state, the ambitious attempt has come a cropper, a according to a study by Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG).
The researchers visited 1,936 retail shops in major commercial hubs Koyambedu, Pondy Bazaar, Adyar, Sowcarpet and Thiruvanamalai. They found ‘banned’ single-use plastic bags in each of these shops. Almost 50% of roadside eateries and bigger restaurants still use plastic containers for packaging, while 63% of the local packaging materials used in Tamil Nadu was non-recyclable material. The objective of the study was to find the usage of plastic after the pandemic in the city. Vamsi Kapilavai, senior researcher, CAG, one of the researchers said that the findings point to the fact that plastic ban is not being implemented at all. “The steps they have taken has not worked. The government has to work at the policy level. They need to define what constitutes a single-use plastic and more items should be included to this list,” he said.
He added that unless there is an ecosystem of alternatives the ban cannot be enforced at all. The government should facilitate and help industries with policies that provide incentives for not using plastic goods,” he said.
Smriti Sharma, head, public policy (operations), Amazon, said on an average, Indians use 11 kg of plastic in a year compared to 109 kg per year used by residents of the US.
A Greater Chennai Corporation official, when contacted, said the only solution is conducting awareness and education programmes and enforcement.