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- During the fourth session of United Nations Environment Assembly,India’s efforts at passing a resolution for a global phase-out of single use plastics by 2025 failed due to strong opposition from the United States.
- The resolution put forward by India was “Phasing-out Single-use Plastic Products”.But the compromised resolution which has been passed is titled “Addressing Single-use Plastic Products Pollution”. It has urged member states to (a)develop national or regional plans, (b)identify environment-friendly alternatives (c)work with research organisations and the industry to develop such alternatives and (d)improve waste management practices.
- The United States has opposed the idea of a time-bound phase out of single-use plastics.It refused to acknowledge single-use plastics as a serious pollutant,and one that needed to be eliminated.Instead it articulated the view that environmental menace posed by single-use plastics could be addressed through better waste management.
- Single-use plastics,often also referred to as disposable plastics,are commonly used for plastic packaging.It includes items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled.These include (a)grocery bags (b)food packaging (c)bottles (d)straws (e)containers (f)cups and (g)cutlery.
- During the World Environment Day summit 2018,India had pledged to eliminate single-use plastics from India by 2022.This development had led many states to ban single use plastics such as Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu.
- The United Nations Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment.It addresses the critical environmental challenges facing by the world.The fourth session was held in Nairobi,Kenya.The theme of the event was “Innovative solutions for environmental challenges and sustainable consumption and production”.
