What are the various policy actions that are needed to handle the plastic and bio-medical wasted generated during the COVID crisis? Explain (200 Words)
Refer - Business Line
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· The Centre should stitch together a national protocol that combines The Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, with the recently released Environment Ministry guidelines on ‘extended producer responsibility’ for producers of plastic
· With the onset of Covid-19, the exponential spike in the use of plastic — that too, of the single-use variety, exemplified by personal protection equipment — has created a mammoth crisis of plastic waste all over the world.
· It has rendered redundant the ban on single-use plastic in many parts of the world, including India, where the ban was imposed in 2016.
· What’s all the more disturbing is the biomedical content in this waste, which could create a new set of health complications during the monsoon and the consequent contamination of soil and water.
· However, the special guidelines from the Central Pollution Control Board on the handling of biomedical waste generated in the wake of Covid-19 have not prevented the piling up of biomedical waste in urban centres.
· The Centre needs to stitch together a national protocol that combines The Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016, with the recently released Environment Ministry guidelines on ‘extended producer responsibility’ (EPR) for producers of plastic.
· The latter, released only last month, does not refer to the pandemic but makes useful suggestions on how plastic producers should fund the urban local bodies in recycling waste.
· In a larger context, the 15th Finance Commission must relook at provision of funds for urban local bodies. A coordinated response is called for, involving panchayats, zilla parishads, State governments and the Centre.
· The Centre can incentivise start-ups and SMEs offering solutions for Covid refuse segregation and treatment. Besides the global expertise, there are cues to be taken from local initiatives such as the Covid biomedical waste treatment plant in Kerala’s Palakkad.
Saravanan 4 years
Pls review
IAS Parliament 4 years
Avoid writing general points. Try to include about Biological waste management rules 2016, solid waste management rules 2016. Keep Writing.
Vidyasagar 4 years
Niranjana Nayak 4 years
aswin 4 years
IAS Parliament 4 years
Try to bring coherence in the answer, avoid listing out the points. Keep Writing.
Priya sabalkar 4 years
Please check my words..
Niranjana Nayak 4 years
IAS Parliament 4 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
aswin 4 years
please review
IAS Parliament 4 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.