A move by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board to ban ‘compostable’ plastic bags has earned the praise of waste management activists. The KSPCB has written to the Central Pollution Control Board not to certify any such plastic bags for Karnataka, after activists and experts earlier pointed out that they do not actually compost.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, a senior KSPCB official said,  “We are not sure about the contents of the material when it comes to biodegradable plastic. Further, in the guise of compostable or biodegradable plastic, we may end up with all kinds of fake products. We do not have a fool-proof method to distinguish them. Based on the state’s plastic ban, we wrote to the centre to exempt us.”
With the Karnataka government ordering a blanket ban on single-use plastics, some individuals and establishments were continuing to use them as they have a CPCB certification.