The Union Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav has launched ‘Prakriti’ (literal meaning ‘Nature’) – an Awareness Mascot & Green Initiatives on Plastic. The Minister of State for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey was also present at the event.
- Prakriti Mascot – Aims to spread awareness among masses about small changes that can be sustainably adopted in lifestyle for a better environment.
- The green initiatives on plastic are taken by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to ensure effective Plastic Waste Management (PWM) in India.
India produces 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste each year, with per capita plastic waste generation nearly doubling in the last five years. This will have a negative impact on the ecosystem and is associated with air pollution.
Green Initiatives for Plastic Waste Management That Were Launched:
i.National Dashboard on Elimination of Single Use Plastic (SUP) and Plastic Waste Management by MoEFCC.
- It aims to bring all stakeholders including Central Ministries/ Departments, State/UT Governments at one place and track the progress made for elimination of single use plastic and effective management of plastic waste.
ii.Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) by CPCB -A Portal for Plastic Packaging
- It is aimed at improving accountability, traceability, transparency and facilitating ease of reporting compliance to EPR Obligations by Producers, Importers and Brand-owners.
iii. Mobile App for Single Use Plastics Grievance Redressal by CPCB
- It aims to empower citizens to check the sale/usage/manufacturing of SUP in their area and tackle the plastic menace.
iv.Monitoring module for SUP by CPCB, for local bodies, State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) and CPCB.
- It aims to list the details of SUP production/ sale & usage in commercial establishments at district level, and on-ground enforcement of ban on SUP.
v.Industrial production of Graphene from Waste Plastic (G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE) & National Research Development Corporation (NRDC)) to promote more industries to come forward to upcycle plastic waste.
vi.The Union Environment Minister has also administered the “Swachh Bharat Harit Bharat Green Pledge”. It was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of India’s pledge to phase out single-use plastics by 2022, to tackle the challenge of plastic pollution.
India Plastic Challenge–Hackathon 2021:
It was launched by the former Union Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar, on June 8, 2021.
- It is a platform for students and young innovators to put forth their ideas or showcase solutions that aim at reducing Single-Use Plastics (SUPs), leading India towards a circular economy.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report:
The IPCC has released the third part of the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change with the contribution from Working Group III.
- The report focuses on mitigation measures to keep the world aligned with the plastic waste management goals and what can be done to remain on the roadmap set by the Paris Agreement.
Note: In March 2022, Bhupender Yadav delivered India’s national statement at the 50th session of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held in Nairobi, Kenya.
