The National Green Tribunal last week observed that plastic pens are covered under the meaning of plastic as provided in Rule 3(o) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2018 and therefore, they are also covered by the statutory framework of the said Rules.
The bench also directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to finalize the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) mechanism. It also directed the Central Pollution Control Board to coordinate with the Pollution Control Boards of other States and State Level Monitoring Committees on its implementation.
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE
The petitioner, Avani Mishra, was aggrieved by the