Bengaluru: The Government official claim that the use of single-use plastics has surged in the City despite numerous bans and restrictions.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Special Commissioner (solid waste management) Harish Kumar on Wednesday July 6 said, “We are enforcing stricter restrictions on the use of single-use plastic items in various zones as part of an ongoing process (of Bengaluru). We seized about 1000 kg of SUP on Monday.”
He claims that Karnataka gets the majority of this plastic from other states because there has been a significant rise in demand for them there.
The use of SUP increased during the Covid – 19 pandemic despite the product’s ban in 2016, since eateries and other businesses were compelled to rely on it to serve clients out of fear that they would have to share steel cutlery and plates.
The efforts to introduce a revolution to phase out SUP use, as laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2019 Independence Day speech, have been put on hold due to the dependence on disposables like plastic cutlery, cups, containers, low-micron count carry bags, garbage bags, and higher consumption of packaged drinking water as a safety measure to avoid contracting Covid – 19.
Since the majority of waste is dumped into landfills or found on streets where it enters drains and increases the chances of waterlogging, the city corporations were already in a fix over face masks, shields, protective gear, and other hazardous waste finding its way into regular piles of garbage. The increased use of SUP has added to the difficulties. Additionally, there is a greater than ever risk of polluting water bodies.
According to a June 28 government statement, 19 items on this list were banned in the State.
