Plastics are the most popular materials around the world today. From plastic packaging to carrier bags, children’s toys to surgical equipment, plastics of different strengths, thicknesses and malleability have millions of applications.
Experts have estimated that annual waste generation in India will increase to 165 million tonnes by 2030. This means that around 66,000 hectares of land is needed to set up a landfill site which is 10 metres high and can hold up to 20 years’ waste. That is almost 90% of Bengaluru’s area. If we do not change our waste practices now then we will soon be buried in our own muck. The production and usage of plastic persist in large amounts in India. India’s capital city Delhi has introduced a ban on disposable plastic. Cutlery, bags, cups and other forms of single-use plastic were prohibited by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). It was introduced after complaints about the illegal mass burning of plastic and other waste at three local rubbish dumps, which has been blamed for causing air pollution.
Currently in India, there is only one law that is in place – No manufacturer or vendor can use a plastic bag which is below 50 microns as thinner bags pose a major threat to the environment due to its non-disposability. But the usage of plastic bags is still high as the ban is implemented on all plastic bags. The ban came into effect on January 1, but, still now some retailers continue the use of plastic bag. Cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Karwar, Tirumala, Vasco, Rajasthan, Kerala, Punjab and now Madhya Pradesh to name a few have the ban on the plastic bags in place. But, its enforcement and effective implementation is an issue. Staffers of the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) have fined three retailers Rs 5,000 each for possessing plastic bags. Civic officials entered their warehouse and seized 2,420 pieces of plastic bags.
Plastics industry has been on making plastics to specifications that are only relevant while they are being used, but we need a new type of plastic whose performance is just as good, but will biodegrade at the end of its useful life much more quickly than ordinary plastics. A government source said “The fact that there are a lot of poor-quality plastics out there is an issue – these are single-use items, not good enough quality to recycle .So the government plans to use existing system to supercharge costs of using non-recyclable plastics. The firms who package goods in unrecyclable plastic will be hit with massive costs. The tax on non-reusable plastic will have a greater impact on the government’s drive to reduce all plastic waste or to reduce the production of non-recyclable plastic. . The government had just published its 25-year plan on environmental policy, which included consulting on whether further taxes and charges could be used to curb the use of plastics. A tax or ban on plastics won’t solve pollution problems, but it would help to deprive the india of a cheap and valuable material. There might be some issues with some businesses, but those in the packaging related businesses are feeling that they have to be more green and environmentally friendly.
At the same time the Indian government will create a profitable funding stream to pump into new UK recycling capacity for plastics that can be reused. The parliamentary authorities in UK have announced plans to introduce a “latte levy” on takeaway coffee cups and a complete ban on plastic water bottles from the summer of 2018. Other governments announced banning of plastic micro beads, a 5p plastic bag charge, which led to nine billion fewer bags distributed, the deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers and a ban on plastic straws and drink stirrers.
On other hand, Beat Plastic Pollution is the theme for this year’s World Environment Day. Beside of implementation of ban and taxes of plastic, the waste audit is being taken up in Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, various cities in Goa and Kerala, and north India. The city is fighting a losing battle trying to stem the flow of plastic like bags, cutlery or bottles. But citizens groups and activists are determined not to give up. Several organisations, including the Solid Waste Management Round Table and Hasiru Dala in Bengaluru, are part of a pan-India waste and brand audit. The aim of the audit is to highlight the need for various FMCG companies to put in place systems to manage the waste generated by their products as part of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
In Bengaluru, the audit began on Sunday in Lalbagh, BMTC bus stand in Majestic and Mantri Square, and five dry waste collection centres in H.S.R. Layout, Koramangala, Bellandur, Marappanapalya and Yelahanka. The audit will end on Tuesday, and the data will be compiled by June 4. Pinky Chandran from the Solid Waste Management Round Table said that as per the Plastics Waste Management Rules 2016, FMCG companies and manufacturers are required to phase out non-recyclable, multi-layered plastics by March 2018. Though there is a plastic ban, these kinds of plastic still add to the municipal waste, some of which is sent to the DWCCs along with the dry waste. Shanthi, who spearheaded the audit in H.S.R. Layout, said that the idea was to look at branded litter and non-branded litter from three household categories (broom covers, gasket covers), food (chips, biscuit packets) and personal care (soaps).
Many organizations and laws are made in order to reduce the plastic waste in India. Simultaneously, Indian government can now upgrade the plastic by adding a special additive to normal polymers. Upgraded plastics do not cause oil depletion because they are made from a by-product of oil refining and the same amount of oil would be extracted from the ground for fuels even if plastics did not exist. Bio plastics cannot be opt as they are too expensive, they contain a high proportion of oil-derived material, and they consume large amounts of fossil fuel in their production process. They cannot be recycled without separation. And upgraded plastic can be safely recycled into short-life and long-life products, without the need for separation.