Railways gear up to embrace plastic ban with new measures

Representational Picture

You may now get paper cups for 200ml of water and soft drinks at railway stations across Mumbai. Also, the Rail Neer bottles will be recycled and brought back to the stall. While Western Railway has already floated tenders for bottle-crushing machines to be installed at all major stations, the Central Railway has put a plan in place for similar machines at their stations.

A meeting held between the railways and vendors on Friday highlighted the issue of plastic menace. According to officials, at the water vending machines too, paper cups shall be provided. The bottles will have a stamp so that they can be identified and brought back within a stipulated period to be recycled. "We will take appropriate measures to replace plastic with suitable paper or bio-degradable material at water vending machines," IRCTC west region spokesperson Pinakin Morawala said. Railway officials said hot food items can be stored in casseroles and served in paper plates.

The state government issued the Maharashtra Plastic and Thermocol Products (Manufacture, Usage, Sale, Transport, Handling and Storage) Notification on March 23, banning manufacturing, use, storing, distribution, wholesale, retail sale, import and transportation of all kinds of plastic bags (with or without handle), single-use disposable items made of plastic and thermocol - dish, cups, plates, glasses, fork, bowls, spoons, straw, containers, non-woven polypropylene bags, pouches to store liquid, plastic to wrap or store products and packaging of food items. It has also banned plastic and thermocol items used for decoration purpose.

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