New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) The Airports Authority of India (AAI) ?on Monday imposed a ban on single-use plastic items at its 129 airports across the country.

Single-use plastic items are used only once and then thrown in the trash.

"Various steps have been undertaken to eliminate single-use plastic items at passenger terminals and city side. These steps include banning of single-use plastic items like straws, plastic cutlery, plastic plates etc," the AAI said in a statement.

"The AAI has decided to make its airports plastic-free by banning the use of single-use plastic items at its airports across the country," the statement read.

It said that on the basis of a third-party assessment carried out by Quality Council of India (QCI), 16 of its airports have been declared as "Single-Use Plastic Free".

The QCI will complete its assessment of total 34 airports -- which are managed by the AAI -- by January 31.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)