The Madras High Court on Thursday directed the State government to ban multi-layered plastic wrappers in which consumables such as milk, oil, biscuits, snacks, chocolates and medicines are sold. It also ordered effective implementation of the ban already imposed by the State on products such as plastic bags.
Justices R. Subbiah and Krishnan Ramasamy issued the directions while dismissing a batch of writ petitions filed by plastic bag as well as paper cup manufacturer associations challenging a Government Order (G.O.) issued on June 25, 2018 for implementing the ban on select ‘use and throw’ plastic products from January 1.
Expressing dismay over poor implementation of the G.O. aimed at protecting the environment, the judges said: “We feel that the ban is neither effective nor complete. In spite of the ban, one-time throwaway plastics are freely made available or accessed by people for their daily use. The G.O. can therefore be construed to remain only on paper.”
The Bench was of the view that the ban could neither be effective nor complete unless hefty fines were imposed on suppliers and stockists and the State promoted alternative products such as cloth or jute bags. It also suggested that milk could be sold in glass bottles or through some other means.