India to ban some single-use plastics in 2022

As a first step towards tackling the problem of plastic pollution and its adverse impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the central government of India has announced a series of revisions to the Plastic Waste Management Rules since 2016
.
The new rules, called the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021, will come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette
.

Single-use plastics, which have low utility and are prone to littering, will be phased out and will be banned entirely from July 1, 2022, under new rules introduced by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
.
Items to which the ban applies include: earplugs with plastic sticks, plastic sticks with balloons, plastic flags, candy bars, ice cream sticks, polystyrene for decoration, as well as plates, cups, mugs, cutlery,
etc.

However, in stark contrast to EU law on similar banned single-use plastic items, the new rules do not apply to goods made from compostable plastic
.

In addition, the minimum thickness of plastic tote bags must be 75 microns from September 30, 2021, increasing to 120 microns from December 31, 2022
.

In addition, under the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, all plastic packaging waste not covered by these rules must be collected in an environmentally sustainable manner through the Extended Producer Responsibility of Producers, Importers and Brand Owners (PIBOs) and management
.
The central government will revise the plastic waste management law to set rules for the effective implementation of extended producer responsibility
.