India launches nationwide mission to combat single-use plastic
The ministry will collaborate with local bodies, schools, businesses, and NGOs for sustainable practices.
29 May 2025 | By Sai Deepthi P
Ahead of World Environment Day (5 June), the Environment Ministry has launched ‘One Nation, One Mission: End Plastic Pollution’, a nationwide campaign to combat plastic waste. Aligned with the flagship initiative Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), the initiative promotes eco-friendly alternatives through awareness drives, community engagement, and policy action.
The ministry will engage in social media campaigns, clean-up drives, marathons, and competitions to mobilise public participation in reducing single-use plastics. It will also collaborate with local bodies, schools, businesses, and NGOs for sustainable practices.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, while launching a pre-campaign video on X urged citizens to shift "from awareness to action." He emphasised collective responsibility towards India’s broader sustainability goals, and global environmental commitments.
In the run-up to #WorldEnvironmentDay, @moefcc has launched a nationwide mass mobilisation campaign against plastic pollution today.
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) May 22, 2025
The campaign 'One Nation, One Mission: End Plastic Pollution' aims to nudge citizens to adopt eco-friendly alternatives as envisioned by PM Shri… pic.twitter.com/4FG40P9rB6
Stakeholders can log activities on the Meri LiFE app, launched in May 2023, available on Android.
Despite a ban on single-use plastics in the country under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, and its subsequent enforcement in 2022, the country grapples with plastic waste management. In the recent global plastic treaty talks in Busan, India and China opposed curbing primary polymer production, seeking instead to focus on plastic waste management.
In a separate initiative led by the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), India has called for startups and student entrepreneurs to develop eco-friendly alternatives to conventional packaging.