Nepal announces banning plastic bags for the third time. There are doubts if it will translate to action

In the annual budget plan speech , the government has announced a complete ban on the production, import, sale, distribution, and use of plastic bags thinner than 40 microns effective from July 16 to reduce environmental pollution from plastic products. This is the third announcement towards this end made by the federal government as the previous two announcements were limited to paper .

If the federal government’s plan had been successful, the use of plastic bags in the Kathmandu valley would have stopped and the amount of non-biodegradable waste would have been reduced by a quarter after April 2015. Consequently, rivers like Bagmati, Bishnumati, and Manohara could have become plastic-free. But, that is not the case up to now. Therefore, there are concerns galore if the new announcement would come into effect anytime soon.