Disposal of Single-use Plastic

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO: 2002
ANSWERED ON: 30.07.2021
Disposal of Single-use Plastic
Sunil Kumar Soni

(a) whether the Government has any action plan for disposal and use of single-use plastic in other projects under the Swachh Bharat Mission;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the Government has formulated any action plan for waste management at dumping sites, particularly in urban areas of Chhattisgarh; and

(e) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (e): The Government of India launched Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U) on 2nd October, 2014to supplement the efforts of the State Governments / Union Territories and Urban Local Bodies in managing municipal solid waste. Under SBM-U, Additional Central Assistance (ACA) of 35 % is provided as per guidelines, to supplement the efforts of States/Urban Local Bodies. 

Under Swachh Bharat Mission Urban 2.0, having focus on complete faecal sludge management and waste water treatment, source segregation of garbage, reduction in single-use plastic, reduction in air pollution by effectively managing waste from construction-and-demolition activities and bio-remediation of all legacy waste dump sites, a total financial allocation of Rs. 1,41,678 crores over a period of 5 years (2021-2026) has been made. 

The Ministry has notified the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and its amendments, for providing statutory frameworkto management of solid waste in the country. The Rules mandate the waste generators to segregate the waste at source and hand over the segregated waste to authorized waste pickers or waste collectors. As per the Rules, the local authorities and village panchayats of census towns and urban agglomerations, shall allow only the non-usable, non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, non-combustible and non-reactive inert waste and pre-processing rejects and residues from waste processing facilities are allowed to go to sanitary landfill sites. The rules further stipulate that every effort shall be made to recycle or reuse the rejects to achieve the desired objective of zero waste going to landfill. 

The Solid Waste Management Rules provides specification for sanitary landfills including criteria for site selection, development of facilities, pollution prevention, water and air quality monitoring etc. The Central Pollution Control Board has issued guidelines for maintaining buffer zones restricting any residential, commercial or any other construction activity from the outer boundary of the waste processing and disposal facilities. Further, Central Pollution Control has also issued guidelines for Disposal of Legacy Waste (Old Municipal Solid Waste). Directions under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, for enforcement of provisions of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 regarding bio mining of legacy waste to all State Pollution Control Boards / Pollution Control Committees. As per available information Chhattisgarh State has 169 dumpsites, in which 161 Dumpsites are cleared while remaining have started bio mining process and are expected to be cleared by 31.3.2023.