Tamil Nadu’s ‘Meendum Manjappai’ scheme

• IAS NEXT, Lucknow
• 25, Dec 2021

Reference News:-

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has launched the ‘Meendum Manjappai’ campaign aimed at creating awareness on the usage of cloth bags instead of single-use plastic bags.

Background:

The Tamil Nadu government has already banned 14 types of plastic materials.

Way ahead?

Enforcement is key for the ban to be effective.

• The government also needs to address important structural issues such as policies to regulate the use of plastic alternatives, improve recycling and have better waste segregation management.
• In addition to improving recyclability, investment in research and development for alternatives should also be a priority.

What are single use plastics?

Single-use plastics refer to disposable items like grocery bags, food packaging, bottles and straws that are used only once before they are thrown away, or sometimes recycled.

Why plastics?

• As plastic is cheap, lightweight and easy to produce, it has led to a production boom over the last century, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming decades, according to the United Nations.
• But countries are now struggling with managing the amount of plastic waste they have generated.

About 60% of plastic waste in India is collected — that means the remaining 40% or 10,376 tons remain uncollected.

Background:

In 2019, the Union government in a bid to free India of single-use plastics by 2022, had laid out a multi-ministerial plan to discourage the use of single-use plastics across the country.

The strategy:

A government committee has identified the single use plastic (SUP) items to be banned based on an index of their utility and environmental impact. It has proposed a three-stage ban:

1. The first category of SUP items proposed to be phased out are plastic sticks used in balloons, flags, candy, ice-cream and ear buds, and thermocol that is used in decorations.
2. The second category, proposed to be banned from July 1, 2022, includes items such as plates, cups, glasses and cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays; wrapping and packing films used in sweet boxes; invitation cards; cigarette packets; stirrers and plastic banners that are less than 100 microns in thickness.
3. A third category of prohibition is for non-woven bags below 240 microns in thickness. This is proposed to start from September next year.

Challenges ahead:

1. It is not going to be an easy task given that close to 26,000 tons of plastic waste is generated across India every day, of which more than 10,000 tons stays uncollected.
2. A significant amount of plastic ends up in rivers, oceans and landfills.

What needs to be done?

1. The government has to do a thorough economic and environmental cost-benefit analysis.
2. The plan has to take into account social and economic impacts for the ban to be successful.
3. We need better recycling policies because resources are poor and there needs to be a much broader strategy.