Given the dual mandate of World Environment Day and India’s committed ban on single-use plastic (SUP) by 30th June, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has issued a detailed advisory to States and UTs to take up a range of activities to fulfill these mandates which include large scale cleaning and plogging drives, with special emphasis on plastic waste collection, as well as large scale tree plantation drives, with the participation of all citizens – students, voluntary organisations, self-help groups, local NGOs/CSOs, NSS and NCC cadets, RWAs, market associations, corporate entities, etc.

The advisory for enforcing the committed nationwide SUP ban encompasses a plethora of suggested initiatives. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0, currently being implemented by MoHUA, plastic waste management, including the elimination of SUP – is a crucial area of focus.

Under the Mission, every ULB is required to adopt 100 percent source segregation of waste, and have access to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting the dry waste (including plastic waste) into further fractions for recycling and/ or processing into value-added products, thereby reducing to a minimum the amount of plastic and dry waste ending up in dumpsites or waterbodies.

Most importantly, the advisory stresses a large scale people participation, where all citizen categories –elected representatives such as Mayors and ward councillors, voluntary organisations, local NGOs/ CSOs, Residents’ Welfare Associations, market associations, self-help groups, students and youth groups, etc, are to be identified and engaged with, to carry forward the message of SUP ban and enforcement.

ULBs may also encourage citizens to take pledges to not litter plastic and prevent plastics from getting into landfills, along with reward campaigns to publicise good disposal behavior in media or social networks to encourage others to stop SUP usage.

“Come 5th June 2022 – World Environment Day – States/ UTs and Urban Local Bodies across the country will swing into campaign mode, in a bid to make the country free of single use plastic (SUP), as well as contribute to improving the environment, under the overarching mandate of “Clean and Green”. This comes on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 89th Mann Ki Baat address to the nation on 29th May 2022, where he exhorted citizens to join together and make some efforts for cleanliness and tree plantation on the occasion of World Environment Day,” the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs said.