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Any plastic that can only be used once is prohibited in the city.

CC BY 2.0 Christian Haugen

In December 2016, India's National Green Court (NGT) passed a law banning the use of disposable plastic in New Delhi, the country's capital. The law came into effect on the first day of 2017. Any type of plastic that can only be used once before needing to be disposed of is prohibited, such as plastic bags, cups and cutlery.

The ban is being a big step for India, as its capital is a major polluter due to the use of plastic and, according to estimates, the country is responsible for 60% of the plastic that is found polluting the oceans, dumping 8.8 tons of plastic every year in the seas.

While banning is a great idea, in theory, there is a problem of what to wear instead. People need to learn about alternatives like reusable fabric bags. There are also paper bags, which contribute to deforestation but don't create the waste problems that plastic does, though Indian sellers complain that paper can't support as much weight.

A little more about pollution in India

India also suffers from air pollution. In November 2016, more than 1500 schools remained closed due to poor air quality, with a concentration of pollutants 20 times higher than normal. New Delhi is experiencing the worst wave of pollution in 18 years and the Indian government has already declared a national state of emergency, as the country's air pollution could even be seen from space.