In a major relief, the Maharashtra government on late Thursday evening, December 1, partially lifted plastic ban permitting use, storage, sale, distribution, and transportation of all single-use disposable items such as spoons, straws, plates, cups, glasses, forks, and containers made up of compostable material.
A notification issued by the environment and climate change department (ECCD) has also allowed use of non-woven polypropylene bags, not less than 60 grams per square metre (GSM), and plastic packaging material with thickness below 50 microns.
This decision was taken in a meeting of the state environment department, headed by the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, November 29.
The resolution is in consonance with central government’s policy on plastic ban. An amended notification to this effect will be issued in the next few days, following an approval from the chief minister’s office (CMO), officials said.
The order came into immediate effect. Essentially, it is a partial rollback of the ban imposed in state in 2018. However, owing to COVID-19, the decision was withdrawn. Maharashtra was the first state to bring such a ban. The central government imposed a plastic ban across the country by issuing a notification, but with certain exemptions, in August 2021.
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