{"id":70323,"date":"2026-03-27T18:42:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=70323"},"modified":"2026-03-27T18:44:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:14:54","slug":"single-use-plastic-violation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/27-03-2026\/single-use-plastic-violation","title":{"rendered":"Single-use Plastic Rules 84% of Surveyed Sites in 4 Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>About 84%<strong> <\/strong>of 560 locations surveyed across four cities in India <strong>continue to use single-use plastic items<\/strong> banned across the country three years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Major Findings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <strong>\u00a0<\/strong>field <strong>study was conducted at specific locations<\/strong> across Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Guwahati, and Mumbai in 2025.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bhubaneswar <\/strong>recorded the highest availability of banned single-use plastic items at 89% closely followed by Delhi at 86%, Mumbai at 85%, and Guwahati at 76%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sectoral variations:<\/strong> Thin plastic carry bags, disposable plastic cutlery, cups, plates, and straws were widely found across informal markets and small commercial establishments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Organised malls and larger retail outlets<\/strong> showed significantly better adherence to the ban compared to informal markets dominated by small vendors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It highlighted <strong>major gaps in enforcement <\/strong>and called for nationwide urgent action to strengthen implementation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Single-Use Plastic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Single-use plastic refers to plastic items that are designed to be used<strong> only once before being thrown away.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is lightweight and cheap, often non-biodegradable and difficult to recycle.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It includes plastic carry bags, straws, disposable cutlery (spoons, forks), plastic bottles and food packaging (wrappers, containers).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Single-Use Plastic is still in use?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is majorly attributed to a <strong>high customer demand and a higher cost<\/strong> of <strong>alternatives.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Few customers bring their own bags, but many customers <strong>still expect vendors to provide free carry bags.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The continued presence of banned plastic items in a majority of locations suggests tha<strong>t enforcement remains inconsistent.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reluctance to transition from plastics to alternatives,<\/strong> including paper cups and plates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Customers perceive disposable plates and cutlery to be<strong> more hygienic than reusable items.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Recommendations<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Need for <strong>stronger national action by all stakeholders <\/strong>government, single-use plastic manufacturers, retailers, and consumers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More robust <strong>enforcement and monitoring mechanisms<\/strong> with regular inspections, coordinated action among regulatory agencies, and consistent penalties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improving the availability and affordability of sustainable alternatives<\/strong> by supporting local production, strengthening supply chains, and facilitating market access.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promoting sustained public awareness and behaviour-change campaigns, <\/strong>and targeted support and incentives for small vendors to help them transition to alternative materials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>What is Plastic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The word plastic is derived from the Greek word<strong> plastikos,<\/strong> meaning \u201c<strong>capable of being shaped or moulded.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Plastic refers to a <strong>wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials <\/strong>that use <strong>polymers<\/strong> as a main ingredient with their defining quality being their <strong>plasticity<\/strong> \u2013 the ability of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation in response to applied forces.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The basic building blocks of plastics are <strong>monomers, <\/strong>which are small molecules that can join together to form long chains called <strong>polymers through a process called polymerization.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Efforts in Tackling Plastic Waste<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR):<\/strong> The Indian government has implemented EPR, making plastic manufacturers responsible for managing and disposing of the waste generated by their products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022:<\/strong>\u00a0 It prohibits manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags having thickness less than <strong>120 microns.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2024:<\/strong> It defines biodegradable plastics as not only capable of degradation by biological processes in specific environments but also as materials that do not leave any microplastics.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rules specify that the makers of disposable plastic ware can label them as biodegradable only when they do not leave any microplastics behind.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Swachh Bharat Abhiyan:<\/strong> It is a national cleanliness campaign, which includes the collection and disposal of plastic waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Plastic Parks:<\/strong> India has set up Plastic Parks, which are specialized industrial zones for recycling and processing plastic waste.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Indian judiciary,<\/strong> under <strong>Article 21<\/strong> of the Constitution (Right to Life), has proactively engaged in cases of environmental degradation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Beach clean-up drives:<\/strong> The Indian government and various non-governmental organizations have organized beach clean-up drives to collect and dispose of plastic waste from beaches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India is a signatory to <strong>MARPOL (International Convention on Prevention of Marine Pollution).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/assam\/toothless-ban-single-use-plastic-rules-84-of-surveyed-sites-in-four-cities\/article70788244.ece#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20study%2C%20Bhubaneswar,%2C%20and%20Guwahati%20at%2076%25.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> About 84% of 560 locations surveyed across four cities in India continue to use single-use plastic items banned across the country three years ago. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Major Findings <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A \u00a0field study was conducted at specific locations across Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Guwahati, and Mumbai in 2025. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Bhubaneswar recorded the highest availability of banned single-use plastic items at 89% closely followed by Delhi at 86%, Mumbai at 85%, and Guwahati at 76%. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Sectoral variations: Thin plastic carry bags, disposable plastic cutlery, cups, plates, and straws were widely found across informal markets and small commercial establishments. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/27-03-2026\/single-use-plastic-violation \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70326,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70323\/revisions\/70326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}