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CPCB pulls up 52 firms over handling of waste
Why in news
- The 52 companies questioned by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) include Amazon, Flipkart, Danone Foods and Beverages and Patanjali Ayurved Limited.
- These companies are questioned for not specifying a time line or a plan to collect the plastic waste that results from their business activities.
More in news
- In a notice posted on the website of the CPCB which stated that these 52 companies hadn’t yet registered at the online portal and disclosed their disposal plans.
- The Notice also warned that failing to do so would invite action against the defaulters.
What the rules have to say
- The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016(1) Companies that use plastic in their processes — packaging and production — have a responsibility to ensure that any resulting plastic waste is safely disposed off.(2) Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) - mandates that the companies have to specify collection targets as well as a time line for this process within a year of the rules coming into effect on March 2016.
- The plastic waste can be collected by the company or outsourced to an intermediary.
- The Rules also mandate the responsibilities of local bodies, gram panchayats, waste generators and retailers to manage such waste.
Status So Far
- In spite of these laws, India has made little progress in managing its plastic waste.
- According to CPCB estimates in 2015, Indian cities generate about 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste per day and about 70% of it ends up as waste.
- Nearly 40% of the plastic waste is neither collected nor recycled and ends up polluting the land and water.
- Plastic packaging are one of the key contributors to plastic waste
- The National Green Tribunal earlier this year hauled up 25 States and Union Territories for not following its orders on submitting a plan by April 30, 2019, on how they would comply with the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016.
- They stand to potentially pay a fine of INR 1 crore.
Source
The Hindu