Pune: The Ministry of Finance has released a circular recently to all offices and subordinate offices of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to ban use of single-use plastic items.
The aim of the government is to make all offices single-use plastic free. The circular says, “As India was the global host for the World Environment Day, which was celebrated on June 5, where the theme was ‘beat plastic pollution,’ the governments calls upon industries, communities and individuals to come together and explore sustainable alternatives and reduce the production and excessive use of single-use plastic. In this background, the board has decided to ban single-use plastic items in all offices or subordinate offices of CBIC.”
The circular further reads, “All the offices will dispense with the use of single-use plastic items in the government offices and make alternative arrangements for safe drinking water that does not result in generation of plastic waste. Only multi-use water bottles will be allowed in the government offices. The ban will come into force with immediate effect.”