S.U.P in India | Adopt A Pencil

India Addresses Environmental Issues With Plastic

We addresses the following ten issues:

1) Ball Pen, Gel Pen

2) Cutlery, Plates, Straws, and Stirrers

3) Balloons and Balloon Sticks

4) Food Containers

5) Beverage Cups & Containers

6) Cotton Bud Sticks

7) Cigarette Butts

8) Plastic Bags

9) Packets and Wrappers

10) Wet wipes and Sanitary Products

Plastics have been identified as a key contributor to growing pollution levels across the world, including in India. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that 50% of all plastic manufactured is intended to be used once and then discarded. According to UNEP estimates, the world creates over 300 million tonnes of plastic garbage each year, which is roughly equal to the whole human population's weight.

Since the early 1950s, researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been manufactured. Approximately 60% of the plastic has ended up in a landfill or in the environment.

Only 9% of all plastic debris created throughout history has been recycled. Only around 12% has been burned, with the remaining 79 percent ending up in landfills, dumps, or the natural environment. In addition, every year, 8 million tonnes of plastic wind up in the world's seas.

Every year, India produces roughly 9.46 million tonnes of plastic garbage. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the country generates an estimated 25,940 tonnes of plastic garbage every day, which is equivalent to 1,030 truckloads at 25 tonnes per truck. Nearly 60% of this, 15,384 tonnes of plastic garbage, is collected and recycled, while the remaining 10,556 tonnes of plastic waste goes uncollected.and littered in the environment, former Union minister Prakash Javadekar had told the Lok Sabha in November 2019.

With the advent of consumerism, growing population, increasing purchasing power and higher standards of living in India, the convenience that packaging and plastic-based consumer goods provides is invaluable. However, the benefits are handicapped by the mismanagement of plastic waste, which results in the clogging of drains, flooding and breeding of diseases, as well as adversely impacting the country’s river and marine resources.

In recent years, the Government of India (GOI) has reviewed and adopted several kinds of environmental legislation and regulations relating to plastics at the national, state, and municipal levels, with a focus on end-of-life management and pollution reduction. India's Prime Minister said in June 2018 that all single-use plastics will be phased out by 2022. As on July 1, 2022, the newly approved Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, will make it illegal to manufacture, import, stock, distribute, sell, or use a variety of single-use plastic goods.

India's efforts to move toward a more circular economy include the following:

The packaging sector in India is the world's largest user of plastics. According to a 2020 assessment on packaging in India, unsustainable packaging would result in a loss of over $133 billion in plastic material value over the next decade. According to the study, interventions based on a circular economy have the potential to recover over 75% of the estimated loss value.

The India Plastics Pact was established on September 3, 2021, as an ambitious programme aiming at bringing together corporations, governments, and worldwide NGOs to set promises to combat plastic waste and turn India's present linear plastics system into a circular plastics economy. The India Plastics Pact is comparable to similar plastics pacts supported by several other countries. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which combines circularity by making product producers liable for collecting and processing their goods at the end of their lives, was imposed by the government in its 2016 Plastics Waste Management Rules. The goal of EPR is to reduce the entire environmental effect of a product's waste materials and to encourage producers and brand owners to establish markets for material reuse or recycling.

The India Plastics Pact, which is the first of its type in Asia, is another project. The Plastics Pact is a bold and collaborative effort to bring together stakeholders to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics throughout the material's value chain. With the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) putting a ban on single-use plastics beginning July 1, 2022, India may be saying goodbye to single-use plastics very soon.

Ear buds, flags, candy and ice-cream sticks, ornamental thermocol, PVC banners less than 100 micron thick, stirrers, wrapping films, cups, glasses, and silverware, as well as plastic carry bags less than 120 micron thick, would not be permitted, according to the CPCB.

Ban isn’t enough:

While India should be commended for its courageous decision to avoid single-use plastic, it cannot be the only solution to plastic pollution. According to experts, the general public has to be made aware of the problem and given more cost-effective solutions. Environmentalists believe that the prohibition is insufficient on its own and that it requires other initiatives and government rules to be effective.

In addition, the amount of plastic collected and recycled must be increased.
This implies that the sort of plastic used in a product should be clearly labeled so that it may be recycled properly.
Indians will have to take cognizance of this environmental threat.

The government has also announced the setting up of a committee under the CPCB chairman, to recommend measures to the environment ministry for effective implementation of EPR. This committee will have representatives from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Department of Chemical and Petrochemicals; Bureau of Indian Standards, three State Pollution Control Boards or Pollution Control Committees, Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), and three industry associations. The committee will not only keep track of how EPR objectives are being met, but will also direct and manage the online site.