Chief Secretary to head panel to oversee plastics ban in Tamil Nadu

Salem: A high-level regulatory committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to the Tamil Nadu government to guide and oversee the ban on one-time used non-biodegradable plastics items in the state from January 1, 2019,  has been constituted, Chief Minister, Mr Edappadi K Palaniswami said. 

Speaking at a function here to launch 12 'green space parks' with an outlay of Rs 5.70 crore on Friday, he reiterated that the rationale behind the government's move to ban the complete use of such plastics was to protect the environment. 

Similar committees to oversee the ban implementation under the headship of each district collector have also been set up at the district level, he said. 

Mr Palaniswami explained that as per the G.O., the production, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of all one-time use-and-throw plastic items has been prohibited from January 1 next year.  As such non-biodegradable plastic items remained long in the earth without any modification, they endangered the local ecology, affects soil health, pollutes water bodies and spoils groundwater.

Listing the kind of plastic items that have been banned, including plastic paper, table spreads, plates, tumblers, tea cups, bags and plastic sachets for packing drinking water among others, he said biodegradable plastic packs for milk, curds and ghee, besides plastic bottles have been exempted. 

In place of the banned plastics, containers in alternate eco-friendly materials like cloth, jute bags and the like should be used, he said, adding, all government departments have been already told to immediately stop the use of the banned plastic items.