Aiming to free the pristine Western Ghats from the scourge of plastic pollution, the Madras High Court has mandated that the Tamil Nadu government organize a comprehensive meeting. This crucial gathering will bring together all relevant stakeholders, notably including brand owners responsible for selling a wide array of products – from snacks and bottled water to other goods – in plastic packaging, sachets, and PET bottles.
The directive comes from a special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, specifically tasked with overseeing forest-related legal matters. They have instructed the Secretary of the Environment, Climate Change, and Forest Department to convene this vital meeting by November 14 and to submit a detailed status report to the court by November 21.
The judges emphasized that the Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) must be present at the discussion. Furthermore, they granted the Secretary the authority to extend invitations to officials from various other crucial government departments, including Forest, Food and Consumer Protection, and Health and Family Welfare, ensuring a multi-faceted approach to the issue.
In a move to incorporate diverse expertise, the court suggested that ‘amici curiae’ – T. Mohan, Chevanan Mohan, Rahul Balaji, and M. Santhanaraman – who have historically provided invaluable assistance in forest, wildlife, and environmental cases, should also be invited. Their insights on effective plastic ban enforcement would be highly beneficial to the discussions.
The Division Bench sternly reminded brand owners of their legal obligations under the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016. They highlighted that the most effective way to tackle the problem would be for these companies to pioneer innovative, plastic-free packaging and distribution methods for their products within the Western Ghats.
As an alternative, the judges proposed instructing shopkeepers in key Western Ghats locations such as Nilgiris and Kodaikanal to adopt a practice where they transfer products from plastic packets or sachets into environmentally friendly disposable paper or butter paper packaging before sale to customers.
Further, the court suggested that brand owners should take responsibility for collecting all used plastic packaging from these shopkeepers, ensuring its proper recycling to meet the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s standards. The judges underscored that the safe disposal of plastic waste is fundamentally the brand owners’ responsibility.
The Bench concluded by stating, ‘Let all brand owners be aware and undertake the responsibility in a productive manner. We are giving an opportunity to them to express their views and come out with the modalities during the meeting so that any consensus arrived at or scheme framed can be implemented as early as possible.’ This emphasizes a collaborative approach to finding and implementing sustainable solutions.