KATHMANDU, JULY 6
The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has appealed to the federal, provincial and local governments as well as all their subordinate agencies and civil servants to make utmost efforts for implementation of the ban on single-use plastic bags with thickness below 40 microns.
The Ministry of Forests and Environment had imposed a complete ban on plastic bags below 40 microns by publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette on 15 September 2021. Similarly, the Department of Environment had decided to strictly monitor the status of ban on production, import, sale, distribution and use of substandard plastic bags beginning August 17. However, the use of single-use plastic bags is still prevalent in the country.
Issuing an appeal, the MoFAGA said, "We would like to urge all three tiers of government, their agencies and government employee for their cooperation to make the ban a success." It also advised everyone to avoid the use of plastic bags. "If it is necessary to use plastic bags, ensure that they are below 40 microns in thickness," it said.
It informed that the implementation of the ban on substandard plastic bags was the need of the hour to implement the fundamental right of the citizens to live in a clean and healthy environment.
According to the MoFA- GA, the ban is aimed at mitigating the negative effects of plastic and polypropylene bags on human health, environment and urban beauty. It takes hundreds of years for plastic bags to decompose in the environment.
Animals may also get tangled and drown in plastic bags. Animals often confuse the bags for food and consume them, thereby causing disruption to their digestive processes. Plastic bags also pollute water sources and block the drainage system, especially in urban centres. Plastic bags start out as fossil fuels and end up as deadly waste in landfills and ocean.
As per the Environment Protection Act, 2019, if a person or organisation commits any act contrary to the act or rules framed under the act, the offender may be punished with a fine up to Rs 300,000.
The Action Plan for Ban on Plastic Bags, 2022 recently approved by the Council of Ministers has empowered the monitoring committees of all three levels of government to confiscate plastic bags from firms, companies or persons that produce, collect, sell, distribute or store plastic bags below 40 microns.
The monitoring committees have been empowered to confiscate the plastic bags from the firms, companies or persons that produce, collect, sell, distribute or store plastic bags contrary to the prescribed thickness.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 7, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
