Centre to ban plastic sticks in balloons, candles, flags, candies etc from Jan 2022

July 24: Candy sticks and ice-cream sticks made of plastic may get phased out from January 1, 2022, the Centre informed Parliament on Friday.

Responding to a query on the phasing out schedule of single-use plastic, Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Choubey said as per the draft notification issued earlier this year, manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of some of the identified single-use plastic items are proposed to be prohibited by January 1, 2022.

Earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration are proposed to be phased out by January 1, while single-use plastic (including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene) items – plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, straw, container and container lids, trays, plastic/PVC banners less than 100 microns and stirrers are expected to be phased out by July next year.

The Ministry of Environment had issued a notification containing draft provisions on March 11, 2021 for amending Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016, inter alias prohibiting the use of identified single-use plastic items by 2022 for public consultation.