India Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021

On 13 August 2021, the Press Information Bureau of the Government of India notified by the Gazette of India some changes in the plastic waste management rules enacted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The changes were in many cases clarifications of nomenclature and expressions – at best a technical proof reading exercise of the PWM rules originally issued in 2016 and amended several times now. I will resist a critique at this time and attempt to first plainly set out the changes in this year’s amendment. The amendment ‘prohibits identified single use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022.’ Further, ‘the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022 – ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [Thermocol] for decoration; ‘plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes,…

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