Today, May 25 is ‘International Plastic Free Day’. It is a call not to use single-use plastic including bottles, take-out food containers, utensils, bags and wrappers. According to an estimate, single-use plastics consist of nearly 40 per cent of the overall plastics production volume. The major impact of plastic on the environment is that it takes many years for it to decompose. In addition, toxic substances are released into the soil when plastic bags perish under sunlight and, if plastic bags are burned, they release a toxic substance into the air causing ambient air pollution. Exposure to toxic chemicals that leach out from plastic is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity and other ailments. It may be recalled that in a bid to phase out single-use plastic items, the Central government had announced that India would ban the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of identified single-use plastic items with low utility and high littering potential. The notification to ban 19 single use plastic items was issued under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and any violation was to invite punitive action under Section 15 of the Act.
