Ministries get moving to cut single-use plastic consumption

NEW DELHI: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi having set a target of cutting down consumption of single-use plastic by 2020, the government machinery has swung into action to make it happen.

The first target date is October 2, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by when the Centre proposes to collect and dispose of 10,000 tonnes of single-use plastic items from all over the country, ET has learnt.

It was decided at an inter-ministerial meeting in New Delhi that all government departments and organisations under them will launch a countrywide campaign from September 11 to completely cut the use of such plastic items.


A substantial portion of the 10,000 tonnes of plastic proposed to be collected will be recycled and reused – some will go for making roads and some will be mixed with cement for construction.

It was decided that each ministry will start initiatives to generate awareness about discontinuing single-use plastics. The steps planned include complete discontinuation of single-use plastic water bottles, alternatives for milk packets and replacing plastic bags with jute and cloth bags across stores.

The meeting was coordinated by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, which will spearhead the plastic ban campaign.

ET gathers that directions will be issued to all educational institutions to stop sales and packaging in single-use plastic. While the University Grants Commission and the Central Board of Secondary Education are expected to issue circulars to colleges and schools on this matter, there is a greater focus on taking the message to the public.

School and college students will be exhorted to ensure that their homes become free of single-use plastic by October 2.

That apart, the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan in the human resource development ministry, where top institutes work with 11,000-plus villages to find sustainable solutions to local problems, will get involved in the plastic ban initiative.

The UBS is a platform that enables higher educational institutions to work with the rural people in identifying development challenges and finding solutions for accelerating sustainable growth. The target is to make all 11,000 villages completely free of single-use plastic by Gandhi Jayanti.

India consumes an estimated 13 million tonnes of plastic and generates about 9 million tons of plastic waste annually.

Modi urged the people in his Independence Day address to give up single-use plastic. He reiterated the message at the recent G7 meeting and in his ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio address this week, where he asked all municipalities, district administrations, gram panchayats, government and non-governmental bodies and companies to collect, store and help dispose of all accumulated plastic in a responsible manner.