16-year-old wants to stop Amazon, Flipkart from excessive plastic use

Aiming to prevent Amazon and Flipkart from excessive plastic use in packaging, a 16-year-old boy has approached National Green Tribunal (NGT). NGT is w seeking a report from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on mir's plea for directions to Amazon, Flipkart to stop excessive plastic use in packaging. itya Dubey, 16, has pleed NGT to direct Amazon and Flipkart to stop excessive use of plastics in packaging goods delivered by firms, with help of his legal guardian

" e-commerce companies are covered under Plastic Waste Manment Rules, 2016. But due to a lack of monitoring and implementation, respondents continue to use excessive amounts of plastic in wrapping and packaging ir sold items," said plea filed through vocates Meenesh Dubey and Divya Prakash Pande.

Dubey's plea argued that companies deliver items in cardboard boxes, which are too large when compared to size of items being delivered.

"To ensure that sold items do t move around in out-sized boxes, y wrap items in multiple layers of plastic sheets and plastic bubble wraps and reafter fill large empty s in boxes with ditional sheets of single-use plastic," it said.

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NGT seeks report from CPCB

A bench heed by NGT Chairperson Justice arsh Kumar Goel has posted matter for hearing on January 3, 2020. Dubey's plea also said that though home-delivery service of e-commerce companies have been very useful for consumers, y have given rise to serious environmental challenges due to excessive use of plastics in packaging. Once goods are delivered, plastic waste is thrown away in garb and it ends up at landfill sites, leing to a burden on earth and damaging environment, it said.

"Single-use plastic has emerged as one of biggest environmental challenges for our planet. It is cheap, useful, ubiquitous and very dely. fact that it's n-biodegrable and is recycled in very small percents means that our plant is with pass of time is becoming a big dumping ground for single-use plastic. Single-use plastic breaks down into smaller fragments kwn as microplastics and n contaminates soil and water," petition said.

Dubey said Amazon and Flipkart have t me any arrangements for eir taking back plastic material or ensuring that it is recycled.

"Plastic packaging constitutes 43 per cent of total plastic waste generated in India and it is imperative that a direction be issued to respondents that y should stop using plastic packaging materials and shift to environment-friendly packaging option, plea said.

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(With PTI inputs)