Mains Practice Questions

Introduction

India generates approximately 4 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, with only 25% recycled or treated. Single-use plastics (SUPs) contribute to this problem but form only a fraction of the total plastic waste.

• Despite the ban on SUPs (Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2021), systemic issues in plastic production, recycling, and disposal persist, necessitating a multi-pronged approach to effectively tackle the plastic pollution crisis.

Body

Why Banning Single-Use Plastics Alone is Insufficient:

• Limited Impact on Overall Plastic Waste: SUPs constitute a minor portion of India's total plastic waste.
  • Larger contributors, such as multi-layered plastics (MLP) and e-commerce packaging, remain unaddressed.
• Ineffective Enforcement: The ban on SUPs (Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2022) is inconsistently implemented across states, with regulatory and monitoring gaps.
• Recycling Challenges: Recycling as a larger challenge persists. Only 60% of the total collected plastic waste is recycled in India due to technological and infrastructural deficits,
  • Also, this recycling is often done inefficiently in the informal sector.
• Malpractices in EPR System: Fraudulent certificates under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system undermine its efficacy (3.7 million tonnes of certificates generated in 2022-23, around 6 lakh being fraudulent).

Alternative Strategies for Sustainable Plastic Management:

• Circular Economy Approach
  • Promote Design for Recyclability: Encourage producers to design products that are easier to recycle.
  • Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs): Establish centralized waste segregation and processing hubs in urban areas (currently missing in many municipalities).
  • Incentivize Recycled Plastics: Provide tax benefits for manufacturers using recycled content to close the consumption loop.
• Technological Innovations
  • Advanced Recycling Technologies: Invest in pyrolysis and gasification plants to handle MLPs and non-recyclable plastics (India lacks such technologies on a large scale).
  • IoT and AI Solutions: Deploy IoT-enabled smart bins to optimize waste collection routes. Use AI for automated waste sorting.
• Strengthening Policy and Enforcement
  • Graded EPR Fees: Impose higher fees on harder-to-recycle plastics to discourage their use.
  • Mandatory Plastic Footprint Audits: Require companies to disclose annual plastic use and recycling rates (potential material value loss: USD 133 billion by 2030, per FICCI).
• Promoting Sustainable Alternatives
  • Biodegradable Plastics: Develop compostable plastics suited to Indian environmental conditions (current standards are unclear).
  • Eco-Friendly Materials: Scale up bagasse-based and algae-based materials (e.g., algae-blended EVA, which also addresses carbon and water pollutants).
• Public Awareness and Capacity Building
  • Educational Campaigns: Integrate waste management into school curricula to build awareness from an early age.
  • Community Workshops: Train citizens in waste segregation and recycling practices to address challenges like mosquito breeding due to stagnant waste.
  • Support Startups: Fund innovative waste management businesses (e.g., Thiagarajar College of Engineering’s patented plastic-to-construction-material technology).

Conclusion

Banning single-use plastics is important, but India needs a holistic strategy involving circular economy principles, advanced waste management, and public awareness. This approach aligns with SDGs: SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), promoting sustainability and a cleaner future.