Most complaints about single-use plastic pollution came from New Delhi: Report

“New Delhi reported the highest complaints during that period at 634, followed by Lucknow (294) and Ghaziabad (215). Of these total complaints, 1,657 complaints were filed against cutlery items, 1,286 against carry bags and 1,033 against other items,” the report said. Of Delhi’s 634 complaints, only 377 had been redressed at that point, it said. CSE also launched its own survey between July and December 2022, in which citizens were asked to submit geotagged photos of the banned SUP items in their area, similar to the CPCB app. The survey found that Maharashtra reported the highest number of banned items (14.29%), followed by Delhi (12.24%). The survey's findings revealed that plastic carry bags were most commonly sighted (35.53% of all complaints), followed by banned plastic straws (22.37%) and plastic cutlery (18.42%). “The complaints were received from across the length and breadth of the country, indicating that the enforcement of the national ban has been abysmal in all parts of the country,” the report said. Siddharth Singh, programme manager of the Solid Waste Management Unit at CSE, who participated in the survey, said that most states have not been able to target the source of SUPs, and the number of campaigns on awareness around the banned SUP is also gradually going down. “We are seeing a lack of intention from the side of the regulators in most states.

The number of advertisements for banned SUP items has decreased drastically compared to when the ban first came, and we are still getting these items in the market, meaning production has not been impacted. There is also less fear now of people being fined,” Singh said.