From prevention to reprocessing, Indian Railways' plastic policy is worth learning from

Indian Railways has announced a ban on single-use plastics in areas under its jurisdiction, including on trains, effective October 2, 201

In the first phase, the Indian Railways asked the authorities to expedite the installation of 1,853 plastic water bottle crushers at 360 major stations, and at the same time, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was asked to implement a return mechanism for plastic beverage bottles as an extended producer responsibility part of the Extended Producer Responsibili.

Indian Railways also encouraged all railway suppliers to avoid plastic tote bags, while advising railway employees to reduce, reuse plastic products and use reusable bags to reduce plastic footpri.

Indian Railways has traditionally been defined as a "waste generator" and must take appropriate precautions to comply with plastic waste management regulations, the Railways Communications Department sa.

As a rule, single-use plastics must not be less than 50 microns unless the thickness of the plastic flakes affects the functionality of the produ.