Use of banned single-use plastic on rise in Coimbatore city

Customers who come to buy vegetables do not bring bags, even though we have told them that we cannot provide bags, say traders

Despite the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change amending the Plastic Waste Management Rules and imposing a ban on manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of single-use plastic items from July 1, 2022, the banned plastic is used widely across the city.

Many of the retail vegetable vendors at Anna Market on Mettupalayam Road continue to use the banned single-use plastic bags. A vendor said, “People who come to buy vegetables do not bring bags, even though we have told them that we cannot provide bags. If we tell them that we do not have bags, they leave without buying vegetables. This affects our business, and we are forced to use plastic bags again.”

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The situation is no different in other markets - MGR market, Thyagi Kumaran market, and the flower market. The banned plastic bags have penetrated from commercial streets to petty shops in the city.

Environmentalists have urged the Corporation to conduct a stakeholders’ meeting to promote use of cloth and paper bags as sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. P.R. Selvaraj of Coimbatore Nature Society said, “The usage came down considerably after the ban. But, it has increased again. We have to create awareness among people to bring about behavioural change.”

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Corporation Commissioner M. Prathap told The Hindu, the Corporation will conduct a special drive in the markets and shops to seize the banned plastic materials. A fine will be imposed on those who violated the norms.