New Delhi: Food regulator FSSAI on Thursday said it has taken a number of steps to cut plastic consumption, including permitting hotels to use paper-sealed glass bottles for captive use instead of packaged drinking water.
"Aligned with the prime minister's call for action to eliminate single-use plastic in coming years, develop environmental friendly substitutes and also an efficient plastic collection and disposal system in the food and beverages (F&B) sector, FSSAI is developing a concrete action plan in partnership with all the stakeholders," the regulator said in a statement.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it has recently initiated some regulatory measures to enable the F&B industry to reduce its plastic footprint.
Listing out these measures, it said "hotels can use paper-sealed glass bottles for captive use without BIS certification in place of plastic bottles."
It has also allowed use of bamboo as an alternative to plastics straws, plates, bowls and cutlery.
FSSAI has removed the restriction on use of returnable bottles for packaging of artificially sweetened beverages and permitted the use of liquid nitrogen dosing in PET bottles during packaging of drinking water.
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The authority has started a consumer awareness campaign 'Eat Right India for Sustainable Living' as a call to action for plastic waste management and reduction of plastic footprint in the F&B industry.