The Lahore High Court has banned the use of polythene bags in Faisalabad and Gujranwala. While hearing the petition of Advocate Salman Khan Niazi against the use of plastic bags in Punjab, Justice Shahid Karim said that polythene bags have a negative impact on the environment.
The ban is being imposed in phases, the court was informed. It has been imposed in different districts already.
The Lahore High Court banned on Febuary 8 the use of plastic bags at all mega stores in the Lahore and gave them a 15-day deadline to comply with the order and switch to alternative shopping bags.
Ban in Islamabad: Plastic bags have been banned in the federal capital since August 14, 2019 as part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Clean Green Pakistan campaign. It is now illegal to manufacture, sell and distribute plastic bags in the city.
Under the ban, producers can be fined up to Rs500,000, while sellers can be fined up to Rs50,000 and people who are caught using plastic bags can be fined up to Rs5,000.
The Ministry of Climate Change has claimed that it has seized nearly 2.5 million polythene bags as part of the crackdown against the use of plastic bags in the capital. The government, along with some NGOs, has distributed tote bags among the people to use instead.
After the ban was imposed in Islamabad, Sindh and Balochistan also took steps to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags.
To be biodegradable means that a substance is capable of being decomposed by bacteria and other living organisms and does not create pollution. Basically, it’s absorbed into the environment.
Ordinary plastic, on the other hand, doesn’t get degraded and stays for years and years, creating pollution and health hazards for living things.
