Plastic-Waste

Plastic has been an affordable, durable, and easily available material for both our industrial and household needs since the 19th century. As a result, most of what we see around us has either been made of plastic or used plastic tools during its production. However, since the majority of plastic materials take centuries to degrade, much of the plastic from the 19th and 20th centuries is still present, while we continue producing more at an unprecedented scale. Plastic waste generated in developing countries often ends up in open, unregulated dump sites or is thrown into rivers and streams. The environmental damage caused by single-use plastics has wreaked havoc on marine life and ecosystems over the past decade. Effective plastic waste recycling is crucial to mitigating these impacts and addressing the growing plastic pollution problem.

Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic find their way into our oceans. There may now be around 5.25 trillion macro and microplastic pieces floating in the open ocean. When extracted for recycling or incinerated by the informal sector, these plastics release a combination of greenhouse and toxic gases into the atmosphere. The burning of plastic or plastic-based products is now largely blamed for the rising temperatures across the globe. According to the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016 (amended in 2018), a six-month deadline is set for producers to arrange for the recovery of waste in partnership with the State Urban Development Department. These rules have been successful in extending the responsibility of the producer via EPR laws and systems of filing returns. However, due to a lack of literacy among producers and a well-developed coordination mechanism between recyclers, pollution control boards, and producers, the targets for addressing plastic waste pollution have fallen short of reality.