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Sustainable Development and Climate Change 209

6.22 India piloted a resolution on ''Addressing Single Use Plastic Product Pollution'' which
was adopted by the Fourth United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019. The resolution
recognizes the need for the global community to act on the single use plastic products pollution.
The adoption of this resolution was a significant step.

6.23 The following domestic regulatory actions have been taken in 2021:
i. In August 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government
of India, notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 prohibiting
identified single use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential,
by 2022. The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified
single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall
be prohibited with effect from the July 1, 2022.

ii. In order to stop littering due to light-weight plastic carry bags, the thickness of plastic
carry bags has been increased from fifty microns to seventy five microns with effect
from September 30, 2021 and to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from
December 31, 2022. Increased thickness of plastic bags will also allow reuse.
iii. The plastic packaging waste, which is not covered under the phase out of identified
single use plastic items, shall be collected and managed in an environmentally
sustainable way through the Extended Producer Responsibility of the Producer,
Importer and Brand Owner (PIBO), as per Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.

iv. For effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility the Guidelines
for Extended Producer Responsibility being brought out have been given legal force
through Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.
v. In October 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the
draft Regulations on the Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging under
Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, as amended from time to time, in the Gazette
of India vide GSR No. 722 (E) for public consultation. The regulation proposes to
mandate reuse, minimum level of recycling of plastic packaging waste, use of recycled
plastic content, and environmentally sound management of plastic waste. It also seeks
to strengthen the circular economy of plastic packaging waste, promote development
of new alternatives to plastics and sustainable plastic packaging.

6.24 The waste management infrastructure in the States/UTs is also being strengthened through
the Swachh Bharat Mission. All States/UTs have been requested to constitute a Special Task
Force for elimination of single use plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste
Management Rules, 2016. In addition, State /UT Governments and concerned Central Ministries/
Departments have also been requested to develop a comprehensive action plan for elimination
of single use plastics and effective implementation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016,
and its implementation in a time bound manner. A National Level Taskforce has been constituted
by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for taking coordinated efforts to
eliminate identified single use plastic items and effective implementation of Plastic Waste