Punjab’s battle against single-use plastics (SUPs) is losing steam. The recent intervention by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and concerns raised by the Akal Takht underscore a grim reality that plastic pollution is no longer merely an urban blight but a full-blown ecological and public health crisis, contaminating the state’s rivers and groundwater and posing a serious threat to wildlife.
On paper, Punjab is ahead of other states in acknowledging the plastic menace. However, state policy has not translated into action on the ground. In April 2016, the Punjab Department of Local Government completely banned the manufacture, stock, distribution, sale and use of plastic carry bags across all urban local bodies.
With state enforcement agencies lacking the teeth — or the political will — to shut down plastic manufacturing units, civic activism in Punjab has radically evolved. Industry sources say that three years ago, there were around 300 plastic/polythene manufacturing units and now that figure has gone up further.
Poor enforcement stems from the fact that Punjab, despite having provisions to impose heavy fines that are on the higher side (up to Rs 1 lakh), has not been able to curtail its use.
Fines across various states include: Delhi (up to Rs 1 lakh), Gurugram (Rs 500 to Rs 25,000), Bengaluru (Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000), Ladakh (up to Rs 10,000), Nagaland and Manipur (up to Rs 20,000), Himachal Pradesh (up to Rs 25,000), and Uttarakhand (Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh). The PPCB in the past has summoned 14 leading national and multinational brands identified as major contributors to hard-to-recycle plastic waste in Punjab.
Gurmangal Dass Soni, who segregates and disposes of plastic waste from his own village in a recycling unit at Rurka Kalan in Jalandhar, says, “Plastic is a monster guzzling up the environment. At our village, we generate an average of 10 quintals of plastic waste daily. All dirty, segregated plastic bags are compressed with a machine which forms a bale of 50 to 60 kg, which we then send to a Haryana firm to recycle.”
As per a Plastic Waste Brand Audit-2025, conducted across Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, and Patiala in 2025, 6,991 kg of total municipal waste was analysed. Of this, 613 kg was plastic, with 88 per cent of it found to be hard to recycle. According to the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), 11,810 plastic packets were examined, and 14 major brands accounted for nearly 59 per cent of the non-recyclable waste.
Three major cities — Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Amritsar — are the primary drivers of this crisis, generating thousands of metric tonnes (MT) of waste daily. A massive chunk of this is non-biodegradable plastic. Jalandhar releases over 600 MT of waste per day, Ludhiana over 1,000 MT, and Amritsar over 500 MT — with plastic waste forming a large chunk of these totals. The state generates about 350 to 352 tonnes of plastic waste daily, according to conservative estimates, with plastic generation constantly on the rise.
These massive landfills have long overshot their capacities, rendering neighbouring areas uninhabitable “wastelands.” Environmentalists have flagged severe run-off from sites like Jalandhar’s Wariana landfill.
During the rains, toxic leachate seeps directly into the groundwater and flows into vital water bodies like the Bist Doab and the Beas, threatening delicate wetland ecosystems and wildlife.
A Jalandhar-based NGO, Action Group Against Plastic Pollution (AGAPP), founded by medical professionals Dr Navneet Bhullar and Dr Pallavi Khanna, alongside ecologist Bageshwar Singh, has been waging a war against single-use plastics in the state — calling for curbs and the effective implementation of the ban on single-use plastics. Their aim is to bombard the authorities with a “with a tsunami of litigation until the problem is resolved.”
In August 2021, the Union Ministry of Environment notified the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, prohibiting identified single-use plastic items with low utility and high littering potential. In July 2022, a comprehensive central ban was imposed, covering plastic cutlery, straws, trays, wrappers, and thin banners. By December 2022, plastic carry bags under 120 microns were completely banned.
