Government bans plastic use in 6 cities of Odisha. Know the details

Bhubaneswar: Items made of plastic will go out of business in at least Municipal Corporation areas along with the religious town Puri from October 2 following a directive by Odisha Department of Forest and Environment issued yesterday.

As per the directive, all plastic made items will be banned in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Puri due to its harmful effect on the environment starting from the Gandhi Jayanti. Anybody involved in selling, trading, manufacturing, importing, storing, carrying, transporting, using and distributing polythene and single-use plastic would be punishable under the law.

Polythene sheets of less than 50 micron thickness have been barred from storing, transporting, dispensing or packaging of any article, commodity, food items, milk, milk products and edible oil in a sealed manner.

However, items made of compostable plastic have been kept out the purview of the new restriction and could be sold with a prior license of Central Pollution Control Board.

Plastic used in packing medical items including medicines, blood, syringe, surgical instruments, foods and beverages has also been kept out of the ban order.

Talking about polythene bag, it would be allowed for packing items used in agriculture and horticulture in these six cities following the ban order.

The authorities or owners of places of religious worship, commercial institutions like hotels, restaurants, cafe, mobile food vans, caterers and other such places like marriage or party halls, offices located in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Rourkela along with Puri Municipality area will shall be responsible for ensuring strict compliance of the aforesaid directions and they shall provide space for collection of plastic waste within their campus and returning the same to the concerned manufacturer or retailers or suppliers, said the directive.

The manufacturers of Polyethylene Terephthalate bottles for drinking water and soft drinks shall take back the bottles and plastic waste respectively through the same retail sales network under mutually agreed terms and conditions based on Extended Producer’s Responsibility, it added.

Similarly, Centre for Environmental Studies, Odisha has been assigned with the duty of making necessary public awareness campaign regarding consequences of indiscriminate use and littering of plastics and restrictions imposed under this order through NGOs and Eco clubs.

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