India has imposed a ban on single-use plastics on items ranging from straws to cigarette packets to combat worsening pollution in the nation of nearly 1.4 billion people.
The ban on single-use plastic items includes straws, cutlery, earbuds, packaging films, plastic sticks for balloons, candy and ice cream, and cigarette packets, among other products, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement on Friday.
For the first stage, the government has identified 19 plastic items that it said are not very useful but have a high potential to become litter and the new ban makes it illegal to produce, import, stock, distribute or sell them. Read more…