India has a burgeoning plastic waste problem; the country produces 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste daily- 40% of which isn’t collected. The consequences of this discarded waste are not only detrimental to waterways and marine ecosystems, but they also have an adverse impact on human health and the environment when this waste is disposed of via open air burning.
One-sixth of the overall plastic waste in India is created by 60 large cities – 50% of this figure is comprised of plastic waste from Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
India’s ban on the import of plastic waste- most notably PET bottles was introduced in 2015, due to an inability to process and recycle them. Consequently, an amendment was made in 2016, this alteration permitted agencies located in Special Economic Zones to import plastic waste to India, which experts believe has enabled plastic imports to rise.
Despite India’s ban on the import of plastic waste, a legal loophole has enabled a flood of PET bottles to be imported into the country. China’s ban on importing plastic waste has required many countries to restructure and improve their recycling methods, whereas India’s plastic waste imports have significantly increased.
A study was performed by the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) in these 60 cities, it stated that these cities each create a total of 4,059 tonnes of plastic waste daily. The study discovered that 10,376 tonnes of plastic waste out of the daily 25,940 tonnes continues to be uncollected.
Last year India pledged to eliminate single-use plastics by 2022. The Union Environment Secretary, C K Mishra shared guidelines with state and union territory officials, urging them to step up restrictive measures to aid the country in reaching its 2022 goal. The guidelines mention various actions that the state can undertake in order to reduce production and usage of this grade of plastic, including potential legal measures.
The CPCB study shows that 6.92% of the average plastic waste generated contributes to the total municipal solid waste in India, it varies in each city, Chandigarh shows 3.1% and Surat is at 12.4%. In Delhi, plastic waste is over 10%, Chennai is over 9% and Mumbai is over 6%.
The study states that 94% of the total plastic waste is comprised of thermoplastic content such as PET and PVC- which is recyclable. The leftover 6% is part of the thermoset family and includes categories of plastics such as fibre reinforced plastic, sheet moulding compound and thermocol- which is non-recyclable.
Gopal Krishna of the TWA (Toxic Watch Alliance) was asked his opinion on the phasing out of single-use plastics; "It's certainly a step in the right direction, but more steps require to be taken. The campaign should not be limited to single-use plastic". He said, "The government has banned the import of plastic waste, especially PET bottles in 2015. But amendment was done at the behest of foreign and domestic plastic waste traders, allowing import in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) since 2016"
Krishna believes that the first important step would be the immediate ban on the import of plastic waste, much like the ban now in place in China and Malaysia.
China informed the WTO of its decision to ban the import of plastic waste in 2017, however many countries were not prepared for the consequences of this ban including the UK and US. Several countries implemented new measures such as a tax on plastic to decrease its usage and subsidising plastic recycling companies, many industry experts believed that Southeast Asia was destined to take China’s place. Malaysia quickly became the most popular location. In the space of six months during 2018, Malaysia imported 500,000 tonnes of plastic waste from only ten countries. Unlicensed recycling factories proliferated with many disposing of the plastic waste via environmentally detrimental means.
India was the 10th biggest importer of plastic scrap before China’s ban was introduced. The government has confirmed that there has been a significant increase in import since the ban, it highlights how India has also become an alternative destination for the recycling of plastic waste. A government official has advised that they are considering methods to halt the rise in plastic waste imports and are starting internal investigations to analyse how this can be done.