Mumbai plastic ban: All you need to know about it!

Every year 3 July is celebrated as International Plastic Bag Free Day In order to limit the amount of singleuse plastic bags across the globe some countries are opting for bans taxation or different forms of voluntary agreements Italy Rwanda and Bangladesh are a few countries that have successfully banned singleuse plastic While the benefits of plastic are innumerable as the material is cheap lightweight and easy to make It takes about 100 to 500 years for a single plastic bag to disintegrateThis year on the occasion of World Environment Day the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withEric Solheim head of UN Environment released the firstever state of plastics report on 5th June in New DelhiAccording to a report titled SingleUse Plastics A Roadmap for Sustainability ldquoOnly 9 per cent of all plastics ever produced have been recycled while 12 per cent have been incinerated and a full 79 per cent has ended up in landfills dumps or the environmentrdquoA local resident carries home plastic bags full of vegetables in Mumbai Pic AFPFollowing the footsteps of the UN Environments theme of Beat Plastic Pollution this year the Maharashtra government became the 18th state in India to ban plastic and almost all singleuse plastic products on 23 June 2018 While many welcomed the move taken by the Devendra Fadnavisled Maharashtra government it sent many in a tizzy with the plastic industry estimating a loss of over Rs 15000 crore and thereby leaving 3 lakh people jobless overnight Lets take a look at the course of the plastic ban since its inception and how you to can do your bit to make Maharashtra a plasticfree state TIMELINEAccording to the UN report ldquoPlastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste globally and much of it is thrown away within just a few minutes of its first userdquo If youre still wondering why banning singleuse plastic is then the BMCs Solid Waste Management answers your query in its Twitter postMyCleanIndia What we want Plastic Beach or Juhu Beach Say no to Plastic SwacchBharat pictwittercom6RWh7ZiBynmdash MCGM swm MCGMswm 29 June 2018June 23rd marked an important day in the history of Maharashtra state as the plastic ban decision was welcomed by people from all walks of lifeMaharashtra lets lead the way to BeatPlasticPollution Each one of us can help implement the ban on SingleUsePlastics simply by saying NO ethAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u009fAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u0092AcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u009aethAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u009fAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u0091AcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u008dethAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u009fAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircAcircu00c2u008ffrac14 to plastic bags plastic straws unnecessary packaging of fruits and vegetables in plastics packaged water and plastic cutlery pictwittercomAjho512mKUmdash Dia Mirza deespeak 24 June 2018Finally a project I was working closely on with Minister iramdaskadam ji who initiated the plastic ban has been approved by the Cabinet Im extremely happy that this focused ban on single use plastics will take effect soon This was needed to protect our environment 12mdash Aaditya Thackeray AUThackeray 15 March 2018Plastic Ban is great decision dont go back RiverMarch CMOMaharashtra SMungantiwar AUThackeray iramdaskadam SrBachchan otherwise government will lose its credibilityfor environmentmdash gopal jhaveri GopalMumbai 25 June 2018Amidst the mixed reactions to the ban many multinational companies and traders have now approached the states government urging them to implement the ban in phases and relax some of the norms Last week on June 27th the Maharashtra state government backtracked on its decision and relaxed the ban on retail packaging at kirana stores thereby bringing about a much sought after relief to many smalltime retailers across the state With the lack of clarification over the buyback system and uncertainty it seems there are a few hurdles for the successful implementation of the ban across the stateWhile there is a tendency of violators trying to bribe the officials in order to get away from paying hefty fines there is also uproar from the plastic industry as the industry stares a loss of over Rs 15 000 crore with the ban leaving almost 3 lakh people jobless overnightPLASTICNOTFANTASTIC INFOGRAPHICAs of today the BMC has collected more than Rs 13 million in penalties so far in Mumbai alone Although the citizens have welcomed the ban with open hearts it is to be seen as to how the BMC plans to recycle and reuse the plastics collected from vendors manufacturers and alikeIf youre still unsure of what to do with the plastics at your home or office than its best that you dispose of all the remaining plastics and seek alternatives ASAP Also its best advised that you dont attempt to bribe the official and also inform your friends and relatives from other states about plastic being banned in Maharashtra before the BMCs blue squad catch them redhanded and penalize themAlso readMumbai plastic ban Stop fining us for recyclable plastic fume hotel bodyIn late December 2016 Mumbai based lawyer and environmentalist Afroz Shah along with his band of volunteers put in 85 weeks of hard work and sheer determination and had cleaned the Versova beach The good Samaritans had managed to clear a total of five million kg of garbage from the beach The efforts of the citizenled initiative paid dividends as Olive Ridley turtles embraced the Versova beach after 20 long years The Versova beach cleanup campaign is a great example of how citizens too can contribute to not only conserve marine life but also make the city and state plastic freeIts time you to SayNoToPlastic and switch to alternatives that are ecofriendly and environmentally safeAlso read Mumbai plastic ban Why are Railways allowed plastic covers and not us ask tradersCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates