Indian Railways To Ban Single-Use Plastic

We wouldn't want to be labeled as "Waste Generator" any day. Most certainly the Indian Railways wasn't a big fan of the label when it bagged the title recently. As a result, the Indian Railways has now decided to put a ban on single-use plastic materials on its premises and on the trains, with effect from October 2, 2019. The Indian Railways are now strictly going to follow the three R's&mdashReduce, Reuse and Refuse when it comes to plastic products, also to use more of economic and environment-friendly reusable bags instead of one-time-use plastic bags.

From now onward Plastic Waste Management rules are going to be a part of the railways to minimise generation of harmful plastic waste and effective eco-friendly disposal. Plastic products such as bag, straw and spoon will be done away with.

Also a major development, the Railway Board has asked the authorities to fast-track the installation of 1,853 plastic water bottle crushing machines at &nbsp360 major stations. These machines will work 24x7 where one can simply put the plastic bottle in and the machine will shred it, later to be taken away to recycling plants. 

Hopefully soon this plastic menace will end. Many Indian states and popular tourist destinations have already imposed single-use plastic ban. Starting from the premises of the Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also called for a ban on single-use plastic, "Can we free India from single use plastic The time for implementing such an idea has come. May teams be mobilised to work in this direction. Let a significant step be made on 2nd October," said Modi.