T.N. Pollution Control Board urges public to share information about illegal plastic units

The complaints could be submitted to the respective jurisdictional District Environmental Engineers of the TNPCB via email, letter, phone calls, or WhatsApp

Underlining the difficulties in identifying illegal plastic units that manufacture banned items, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) called upon the general public to share information about such units operating illegally in residential and/or commercial areas.

The complaints could be submitted to the respective jurisdictional District Environmental Engineers of the TNPCB (contact: https://tnpcb.gov.in/contact.php) via email, letter, phone calls, or WhatsApp, an official release said.

Listing out the steps being taken to close down such units, the TNPCB said: “It is found difficult to identify all plastic units manufacturing banned items which may co-exist and operate illegally in a small space within residential/commercial establishments.”

Most of these units were “highly unorganised without proper registration” with any of the government authorities and function purely on temporary basis, it underlined. So far, the TNPCB had closed around 240 banned single-use plastic manufacturing units.

In June 2018, the Tamil Nadu government banned the manufacture, store, supply, transport, sale or distribution, and use of a certain category of plastics. They were plastic carry bags, irrespective of size and thickness, non-woven carry bags, plastic-coated paper plates and cups, plastic tumblers.

It had banned thermocol plates and cups, plastic tea cups, plastic sheet/cling film used for food wrapping, plastic sheet used for spreading on dining table water packets or pouches, plastic straw, and plastic flags in order to prevent the huge threat of pollution caused by single-use plastics.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change too banned single-use plastic such as plastic or PVC banners less than 100-micron, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping, or packing films around invitation cards, cigarette packets and sweet boxes, among others.

Published - October 04, 2024 03:51 pm IST