The Delhi High court on Thursday, 07th August issued a directive banning use of plastic bags in all the city markets, the high court was issuing the judgement in response to a litigation by Vinod Jain from an NGO named Tapas

The high court extended the ban which was earlier in force at hotels and shopping mall, however the catch is that the directive does not specify a time-frame for the government to implement this order from the court implying that it does not bind the government into any legal time-frame. It could take years before the order is implemented, however, it does signify a bold step forward towards ridding the society of the menace of plastic bags we all see flying around everywhere.

The salient features of the judgement includes

  • Plastic ban extending to all major markets within Delhi
  • Minimum thickness of plastic bags to increase to 40 microns
  • Illegal recycling units around Delhi to be shut immediately
  • Implementation of the Justice Chopra committee to be implemented

Even though the judgement is a landmark of sorts, the problem lies with the implementation, Delhi has very little in terms of infrastructure associated with recycling of plastics, if the illegal recycling units are closed then the bags will find their way into the already polluted Yamuna river, therefore until the govt takes necessary steps to set-up a dedicated framework for handling plastic waste, the orders issued are worth their weight only in paper.

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