The Punjab State Pollution Control Board (PSPCB) on December 12, 2024, issued the notification regarding the prohibition of Single-Use-Plastic (SUP).
The following has been prohibited namely: -
• Ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (Thermocol) for decoration
• Plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers
• Plastic/Thermocol (Polystyrene) is non- biodegradable for hundred of years, only a tiny percentage is recycled.
• Plastic products/bottles also pollute our oceans, kill marine animals, birds, cattles etc. Some animals intake plastic bags along with food.
• Plastic containers leach toxins like Bisphenol-A (BPA), Dioxins, Thallates, Microplastics into food and drink, which enter our bodies and then cause hormone disruption, cancers, infertility, neurological disorders etc.
• Choking of sewers, drains, water bodies is also due to plastic blockages. Mixing of plastic with solid waste as well as open dumping and burning of such waste releases toxic gases and thus enhancing air pollution.
The following shall come into force July 01, 2022
