Despite ban, 36.4 MT of plastics seized in 2 years
Plastic products, including single-use plastic (SUP) articles and carry bags are banned in the state. Despite this, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has seized 36.4 metric tonnes of plastics during inspections across the state over the past two years.
According to high-level department sources, this was just the tip of the iceberg. “Though there is a ban on the manufacturing of plastic goods in the state, many of these banned products were coming from other states and were stocked, sold and used here,” an official said.
According to available data, between October 1, 2022, and August 31, 2024, the PPCB teams visited approximately 13,000 units, noting 3,044 violations concerning carry bags and 952 concerning single-use plastic articles. The violators received a total of 3,607 challans and the department collected a fine of Rs 41.4 lakh from the defaulters.
It should be noted that the Department of Local Government, Government of Punjab, amended the Punjab Plastic Carry Bags (Manufacture, Usage and Disposal) Control Act 2005 in 2016 and imposed a complete ban on the manufacture, stocking, distribution, recycling, sale and use of plastic carry bags in the jurisdiction of all the municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state, effective from April 2016.
Polystyrene and expanded polystyrene commodities, earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene for decoration, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays, wrapping and packaging films around sweet boxes are among the banned products.
Regional offices were directed to conduct surprise checks to curb the manufacturing of plastic carry bags and identify SUP items, as well as the status of the action taken against violating units. Allegedly the authorities are taking the ban too lightly.
Rajiv Jain, who owned a plastic manufacturing company, said his company had closed but that the sale, purchase and stocking of plastic products continued. “People are obtaining banned products from other states, and authorities have failed to control them,” he added.
