New Delhi, Aug 4 : A total of 1,985 tonnes of banned single-use plastic items have been seized and Rs 19.82 crore has been levied in fine, said Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in the Parliament on Monday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Singh noted that regular enforcement drives have been undertaken to enforce the ban on identified single-use plastic items.

'The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, on August 12, 2021, prohibiting identified Single Use Plastic (SUP) items, which have low utility and high littering potential, were prohibited with effect from July 1, 2022,' Singh said.

'A total of 8,61,740 inspections' have been conducted since 2022,' he added.

Singh stated that the ban on identified single-use plastic items has triggered the development of innovative eco-alternatives. As a result, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Central Pollution Control Board have prepared a 'Compendium of manufacturers / sellers of eco-alternatives to banned single use plastic items', which launched on World Environment Day, 2025.

'The compendium provides details of nearly 1,000 units spread across the country. In keeping with the development of eco-alternatives, the Bureau of Indian Standards had earlier notified Indian Standard IS 18267 for food serving utensil made from agri by-products,' Singh said.

As per the Centralised EPR portal on plastic packaging, 51,838 producers, importers, and brand owners, and 2,948 plastic waste processors are registered on the portal.

'Since the notification of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Guidelines on plastic packaging on February 16, 2022, nearly 157 lakh tonnes of plastic packaging waste have been recycled,' the MoS said.

Meanwhile, this year's World Environment Day was celebrated across the country with the slogan 'One Nation, One Mission: End Plastic Pollution'.

The National Plastic Pollution Reduction Campaign (NPPRC) has also launched a series of activities for the period June 5 to October 31.

The Campaign includes activities to reduce plastic pollution in tiger reserves and urban and rural areas, reducing the use of avoidable single-use plastics in government offices, among others.

/IANS