Kohima: The Nagaland Urban Development Department has issued a partial modification notification to “Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021 notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change Government of India prohibiting identified Single-Use Plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, by 2022.
According to an official report, the UD Department has further notified that the Governor of Nagaland is pleased to impose a “Ban on Single-Use Plastic in Nagaland” to eradicate the menace of plastic and the serious environmental and ecological challenges posed by the rampant use of plastics.
The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of earn/ bag made of virgin or recycled plastic shall not be less than 75 microns in thickness with effect from the 30th September 2021 and 120 microns in thickness with effect from December 31, 2021. Further, a non-woven plastic carry bag shall not be less than 60 Gram per Square Metre with effect from the September 30, 2022.
The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July 2022. Earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration, Plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays, wrapping or packaging films around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets, plastic or poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
All other clauses mandated in the “Plastic Waste Management Rules. 2016” and “Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021” should be strictly adhered to. All Individual, Institution and commercial establishments (educational institutions, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants, religious institutions, faith-based institutions, industrial establishments, banquet halls) and Central and State Government Departments, Agencies, Commissions, PSUs and Missions, including Militaries and Paramilitaries in the State shall abide the aforesaid ban and any breach shall be liable for penalties, the report said.
