Under the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021, the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of single-use plastic items will be prohibited from July 1.
These include ear-buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice cream sticks, decorative items of polystyrene (thermocol), cup-plates, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays, wrapping films for packaging of sweets boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners and stirrers of less than 100 microns thickness will not allowed to be used.
The thickness of plastic carry bags was increased from 50 microns to 75 microns with effect from September 30, 2021, which will be 120 microns with effect from 31 December 2022. Polystyrene and expanded polystyrene are being banned along with all types of single-use plastics, which are less useful but high littering. All the states and union territories have been instructed by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to prepare a detailed action plan and implement it.