UP bans use of plastic bottles in govt offices, guidelines issued

These efforts are in line to do away with single-use plastic in Uttar Pradesh and avoid wastage of paper to protect the environment

In its ongoing efforts to do away with single-use plastic in Uttar Pradesh and avoid wastage of paper to protect the environment, the Yogi Adityanath-led government has directed government departments to not use plastic water bottles in meetings and also use soft copies.

Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra has conveyed the message to the government departments.

The officials have also been clearly directed to ensure strict compliance with the government's instructions in this regard with immediate effect.

Chief Secretary in the guidelines said, "Despite repeated instructions, the departments have been presenting plastic covers and single-sided printed booklets and that misuse of paper and use of plastic is not appropriate considering its adverse impact on the environment."

It directed officials to show sensitivity towards the environment and climate change, as it is their moral and official responsibility.

The guidelines issued by the Chief Secretary said that the maximum soft copy should be used by all the government officers and departmental heads.

"Use of physical (hard) copy should be minimized and whenever there is a need to print, double-sided printing should be done," the guidelines reads.

The guidelines further said that the plastic cover and spiral binding should never be used and all the files should be sent through e-office only.

"If it is unavoidable to send physical files, they should be printed on both sides of the paper," it said.

It also asked to never use plastic bottles for water in meetings.

Notably, India banned several single-use plastics starting July 2022.

Single-use plastics are typically items that are discarded after being used only once and do not go through the recycling process.