Plastic bags are not bad, it’s the “failure” of the Capital’s civic administration that is to blame for the plastic menace.

With that statement in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh threw open the debate on the ban on plastic bags in Delhi once again. Polythene bags were banned in the Capital this January following a High Court order. Crying foul over the ban, the plastic manufacturing lobby subsequently moved the court.

According to Ramesh, poor handling of solid waste management by Delhi’s civic authorities has led to the ban. “India and Bangladesh are the only countries to have considered a ban on plastic bags,” Ramesh said. “The entire world uses plastic, which is a chemically inert substance and not hazardous per se to health and environment.

“If carried out as per approved procedures and guidelines, recycling of plastic may not be an environmental or health hazard.”

Ramesh also said he does not fully agree with alternatives the Delhi government has pitched — paper and jute bags — and said use of paper bags would lead to cutting of trees. Instead, he suggested use of biodegradable plastic bags, which the government has allowed only in very restricted areas: minor markets and small restaurants. All ‘major’ shopping areas have a ban on retail, use and storage of plastic bags.

Post-ban, besides shopkeepers stocking them, customers found using plastic carry-bags can also be penalised.

The government has notified Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 (amended in 2003) to regulate the use and manufacture of plastic carry-bags, containers and recycling of plastic waste, the minister said. “We are moving towards thicker and biodegradable bags,” Ramesh said.

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