New Delhi: As the ban on certain single-use plastic items kicks in from Friday, the Kerala government will initiate an enforcement campaign and close down units engaging in the production, distribution, stocking and sale of such items.

Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, they said.

In Kerala, violators will be slapped with fines as high as Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000. Repeat violators, if a business, will see their licenses suspended.

For effective enforcement of the ban, the Union Environment Ministry has urged setting up control rooms and forming special enforcement teams to check the illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned SUP items.

It has also stressed that border checkpoints be set up to stop the interstate movement of any banned SUP items.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has also launched a grievance redressal application to empower citizens to help curb the use of plastic.

Officials said plastic used for packaging in the FMCG sector is not banned but will be covered under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines.

The EPR is a producer's responsibility to ensure environmentally-sound management of the product until the end of its life.

According to the CPCB, India generates around 2.4 lakh tonnes of SUP per annum. The per capita SUP production is 0.18 kg per year.

On August 12 last year, the ministry issued a notification prohibiting the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified SUP commodities, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene from July 1, 2022.

The identified SUP items include earbuds, plastic sticks for balloons, flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol), plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, straws, trays, wrapping or packaging films around sweets boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners of less than 100 microns, and stirrers.

Kerala government has taken this one step further. In addition to the plastic items banned by the Centre, it has also banned a slew of other items (as per the orders issued in January, February and May 2020):

• Plastic carry bags, including non-woven, and plastic garbage bags (excluding those used for biomedical waste)
• Table sheets, plates, tumblers, and cups made of plastic
• Thermocol or styrofoam plates and tumblers
• Plastic spoon, fork, straw, and stirrer
• Plastic-coated paper cups, plate, bowl
• Plastic-coated leaves, and bags
• Plastic festoons, PVC flex, plastic-coated cloth, polyesters, nylon, and Korean cloth banners
• Plastic pouches for drinking water and non-branded juice packets
• Drinking water bottles with a capacity of less than 500ml
• Plastic wrapping around candy boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets
• Plastic packets for packing fruits and vegetables
• Plastic sticks for earbuds, balloons, candies, and ice creams

In addition, awareness campaigns over the ban will also be conducted near hotels, take-away centres, markets, shopping malls, and thattukada (wayside eateries).

Media and popular personalities will also be roped in for the campaigns.