The Tamil Nadu Pondy Plastic Association has approached Madras High Court complaining that a piquant situation prevails in Tamil Nadu, with plastic manufacturers not being able to obtain Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) authorisation from the Central Pollution Control Board, since the State government is refusing to issue Consent to Operate (CTO) certificates, in view of the ban on single-use plastic products.
A Division Bench of Justices V.M. Velumani and V. Lakshminarayanan has ordered notices, returnable by June 8, to the Centre and the State government.
In his affidavit, the association’s president G. Sankaran said that the situation in T.N. has worked to the benefit of plastic manufacturers from others States, as they could easily obtain the EPR authorisation whereas domestic manufacturers were put to a great disadvantage. The petitioner’s counsel R. Saravanakumar told the Bench that the State government had issued an order on June 25, 2018, imposing a blanket ban on single-use plastics such as carry bags, flags, food wrapping sheets, dining table spreads, plates, tea cups, tumblers, water pouches and straws. The G.O. was upheld by the High Court on December 27, 2018 with a direction to consider banning exempted plastic products too.
