'Reduce single-use plastic, set up rooms to keep reusable utensils'

New Delhi: The Delhi government Monday issued an order asking all schools in the national capital to set up a separate room within their premises to store reusable utensils as part of its plan to phase out single-use plastic (SUP). The directive comes days after the government announced it has decided to ban single-use plastic product in the Delhi Secretariat from June 1

onwards.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) in a letter to schools said they need to replace plastic dishes with those made of steel or glass etc, and keep them in a separate store room ("bartan bhandar").

"These items shall be utilised instead of plastic dishes for daily use and (during) all functions in the schools," the letter said.

While the bartan bhandars will be set up in first phase, in the second phase schools have been asked to implement the Information, Education and Communication (IEC) plan on waste management and SUP.

The schools have also been asked to submit an action-taken report.

In August last year, the Union environment ministry had issued a notification prohibiting manufacturing, import, stocking, distribution, sales and use of identified SUP commodities, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene from July 1, 2022.

All manufacturers, retailers, general public, and shopkeepers in Delhi have already been asked not to keep any stock of SUP by June 30, 2022.