Maharashtra revises plastic ban, lifts curbs on compostable items

The 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. 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.

Mumbai: In what may come as a relief for plastic industries, Maharastra government is set to bring major changes in its plastic ban policy. It has decided to allow all single use items made of compostable plastic, bags made of polypropylene, of not less than 60 grams per square meter (GSM), and plastic items of less than 50 microns used by industries for packaging and other such purposes, with certain riders.

The state environment department had banned the manufacturing, use, storing, distribution, wholesale, retail sale, import and transportation of all kinds of plastic bags, single use disposable items made of plastic and thermocol on March 23, 2018. Plastic to wrap or store products and small PET and PETE bottles with a capacity to carry less than half litre, among other things, were also banned. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

Essentially, it is a partial rollback of the ban imposed in state in 2018.

The 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. 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.

“Compostable plastic is different from plastic made up of petrochemicals and fossil fuels. It can be composted at commercial facilities,” said a senior official from the department.

He added that plastic items below 50 microns will be allowed “but only for industries which can prove that their productivity is being affected due to the plastic ban”.

The state environment department had banned the manufacturing, use, storing, distribution, wholesale, retail sale, import and transportation of all kinds of plastic bags, single use disposable items made of plastic and thermocol on March 23, 2018. Plastic to wrap or store products and small PET and PETE bottles with a capacity to carry less than half litre, among other things, were also banned.

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.

This is not the first time the state government has brought relaxations in the plastic ban. On April 11, 2018, it had decided to lift the ban on PET and PETE bottles on the condition that the manufacturers, producers, sellers and traders to set up collection centers, reverse vending machines, crushing machines linked to recycling units at strategic places to collect and recycle waste bottles.

“The state government has decided to follow the policy brought by the central government so that there is no ambiguity in the policies of the state and the Centre,” said a senior environment department official defending the move.