Order of the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata) in the matter of Devavrat Kumar Sahani Vs State of Bihar dated 07/04/2025. The application was being registered on the basis of a letter petition dated December 27, 2024 sent to the NGT by the applicant, Devavrat Kumar Sahani, Muzaffarpur, …
developed countries are routinely dumping tonnes of plastic waste into India, according to environmental group, No Plastics in the Environment (NoPE). The import data compiled by the Union government shows that more than 59,000 and 61,000 tonnes of plastic waste came into India in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Representatives of …
Our penchant for setting up yet-another committee never seems to end. But when all they do is endorse the position of the government, with little thought of public interest, what purpose do they serve, one often wonders. Take the Ranganath Mishra committee on plastic waste management or the R A …
Bangladesh has clamped a ban on the production and use of polythene bags. This has been done to protect the environment and promote the use of jute products. The flood-prone country's drainage system was being choked by polybags and there were recent reports of a layer of polythene on the …
Over a period of time, composite materials such as plastics wear because of day-to-day usage, creating tiny cracks that continue to grow until the item breaks. But now Scott White, a materials engineer at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA,has created composites that can fix its own micro cracks before …
South Africa has banned the use of thin plastic bags. And retailers of these bags are a worried lot as they fear that it would wipe out their retail profits. The South African cabinet recently approved a ban to prohibit anyone from distributing grocery bags thinner than 80 micrometres. The …
What is extended producers responsibility ( epr ) concept? Under epr producers bear a degree of responsibility for all the environmental impacts of their products. They must take their products back at the end of their useful life either directly or through a third party. The manufacturers are also responsible …
A detector that can detect small quantities of explosive material mixed in seawater has been devised by M Sailor and his colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, USA. The device is portable and hence could prove to be immensely useful for detection of sea mines. The device uses …
One of the main causes of pollution in South Africa is plastic packaging, says a recent study. The Water Research Commission and the Cape Metropolitan Council conducted a four-year study into the reduction of urban litter in drainage systems. During the study it was found that the plastic packaging contributes …
More than a 100 million tonnes of plastic is produced world-wide each year. Though plastics have opened the way for a plethora of new inventions and devices it has also ended up clogging the drains and becoming a health hazard. Many countries, including India, are trying to increase the amount …
India yet does not have a uniform nation-wide law for ban on plastic polybags Average Indian uses one kilogramme (kg) of plastics per year. The world annual average is 18 kg per capita India imported 7,841.8 metric tonnes of plastic waste from the US in the first half of 1994
------------------------------------------------KEYA ACHARYAthe lack of knowledge on hospital waste management stems right from India's ministerial level, but Karnataka's minister of health and family welfare, Malakka Reddy, is ready to listen. "Most of our incinerators are not working. We have no dumpsites or trained personnel. Please advise us,' was his request to …
the Delhi government will soon ban the use of plastic bags for carrying foodstuffs. The decision has been taken in the wake of Lt-governor Vijay Kapoor issuing a notification for the same. But environmentalists are apprehensive about its implementation. "The government's effort is an eyewash. It simply wants to waste …
At least 14 peacocks died recently in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh due to the consumption of toxicfoodgrains. Several groups, including the Save Powai Lake Committee, have launched a project to clean the highly polluted Powai Lake of Mumbai. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve has been declared as a part of …
campaigners who waged a pitched battle against the proliferating plastic menace in this tourist state are left holding tonnes of plastic. They now pin their hopes on the changes in the law that could help tackle this problem. The government is planning to pass a law banning plastic bags below …
Thin is ugly. The people realised this when dealing with the scourge of plastic bags in the environment. But this realisation failed to be converted into concrete action. The Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules 1999 were supposed to do away with the menace of plastic bags, but on hindsight …
india / waste management starting from August 2001, only biodegradable waste from the residential and commercial complexes of Mumbai will be managed by the Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation ( bmc ). Mumbai residents will have to make their own arrangements to dump the non-biodegradable waste. This directive was recently passed by …
Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, have developed a self- healing plastic that could be useful in repairing cracked plastic items and in recycling plastics. Most composite materials, out of which a variety of things ranging from aircraft wings to circuit boards are made, consist of fibres …
biodegradable plastic is now a reality. Environmental Polymers Group (epg), a us-based private company, has created a biodegradable plastic wrapper that is soluble in water under the right conditions. In coming up with its product, the company claims, it has beaten some of the big plastic manufacturers, such as Du …
the long-delayed, diluted bill to ban the use of recycled plastic bags was passed in the Delhi assembly recently. The Delhi plastic bags (manufacture, sale and usage) and non-biodegradable garbage (control) Bill, as it is called, bans recycled bags for carrying, storing or packing, both cooked and uncooked food, with …
