Plastic bans ahead for 1.4 billion people
Littering will be tackled at the source by India which announced it would ban a number of single-use plastics late last week.
Plastic items including cutlery, ice-cream sticks, straws, earbuds and even flags will be outlawed by July next year as the country’s government tackles what it calls an “important environmental challenge”.
With India accounting for 1.39 billion people, or 17.7 per cent of the world’s population, the announcement, if enforced, is expected to have far-reaching impact.
Estimates suggest the country produces around 26,000 tonnes of plastic a year, making it the world’s 15th largest plastic polluter.
The ban comes on top of laws which will restrict lightweight plastic bags as of September this year.
China, which accounts for an estimated 28 per cent of the globe’s mismanaged plastic waste announced last year they will ban plastic bags from 2022.
India makes plastic reduction a patriotic duty
By announcing the changes on Friday, two days ahead of India’s Independence Day, the government appears to be sending a clear message that patriotic citizens should reduce their plastic use.
The new guidelines specifically mention plastic flags as being on the list of items to be banned, and the environment department urged people celebrating the national public holiday to make India greener.
“This Independence Day, take the pledge to make India free from single-use plastic,” it wrote on Twitter.
The motivational words were surrounded by a picture of a plastic bag with a red line through it and two saffron, green and white Indian flags, known as the tricolours.
Some Australian states cutting down on single-use plastic
In Australia, most states and territories have implemented single-use plastic bans, or are planning to do so.
Total Environment Centre's executive director Jeff Angel said the country's most populous states Victoria and NSW are lagging behind the ACT and Queensland when it comes to disposable plastic reduction.
"They need to move quicker," he said.
"The key reason is that many of these items are littered, and when they enter the environment they accumulate over many decades.
"It's not like each year, the plastic that has previously been littered disappears, each year more plastic litter that lasts for decades is added.
"The sooner we move, the quicker the environmental load will start declining."
Balloons, plastic cutlery and coffee cups on target list
The ACT has already banned thin plastic bags, single use cutlery and stirrers.
Queensland is set to ban polystyrene take-away containers, along with disposable plastic cutlery and bowls next month.
Western Australia will phase out single-use coffee cups and lids by the end of next year.
The state will also outlaw single-use bowls, cutlery and helium balloons by the end of 2021.
Releasing helium balloons in Victoria is now illegal, with the state government calling them one of the three worst marine pollutants threatening wildlife.
South Australia banned a number of single-use items in March this year, and will further tighten regulations in 2022.
NSW and Victoria are expected to further restrict disposable plastics in the coming years.
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