A trend has been observed among the Governments throughout the globe to call for a plastic ban policy. Even though partial success has been noticed in some foreign countries, this policy cannot fetch a complete solution to plastic waste problem for the following reasons.
The global production of plastics has increased substantially from 0.5 million tons in 1950 to 335 million tons in 2016. Both demand and production are increasing continuously. Packaging consumes about 35 to 45 percent of plastics produced in total whereas building and construction consumes another 20 percent. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, plastic consumption in India rose from 61,000 tons in 1996 to 178 lakh tons in 2017. Per capita consumption of Plastic in India is still low about 11 kg in comparison to Brazil (32 kg), China (45 kg), European countries (65 kg), United States of America (109 kg) and Global average 28 kg, which shows that there is a huge potential in growth of plastic industries in India.
There are approximately 22,000 plastic manufacturing units in India, producing 5.72 million tons of plastic each year and creating employment opportunity of about 4 million people. Demand of plastics is increasing exponentially with increase in market in India for automobiles, electronics, pipes and agriculture, infrastructure and packaging.
The growth of Indian plastic industry was found at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent over financial year 10 – 17 and is expected to be at 15 percent CAGR during 2020 with approximately plastic processing volume 22 million metric ton per annum. But still, India is importing PVC resins almost about 50 percent of its demand from Taiwan, South Korea and China.
Plastics possess encouraging future due to its use in making essential items like toys to aircraft, conduit to hose pipes, drink bottles to refrigerators and CD/DVD to television sets. Due to its advantage over other competing materials like paper, metals, wood and glass, in production at relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, imperviousness to water, and also in having high strength-to-weight ratio, stiffness / toughness, thermal / electrical insulation, corrosion resistance and ductility, plastics are now considered as material for safe packaging, energy saving and natural resource conserving. Seven grades of plastic are used and LDPE, HDPE, PP, PVC, PS and PET account for approximately 75 per cent of the total global demand.
Substantial quantities of end-of-life plastics (about 5 – 15 per cent by weight and about 20 – 30 per cent by volume of MSW) are disposed to landfill along with other municipal solid wastes (MSW). Discarded plastics make the natural terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats dirty and unhygienic.
Discarded plastic carry bags blowing in the wind, piled in ditches, hanging on road side trees, eating by stray animals, etc. are common scene in every city. Now-a-days, the highest mountains and Polar Regions are even not free from waste plastics.
Everybody is concerned with plastic wastes due to its slow rate of decomposition, release of toxic chemicals in the environment, creation of dirty surroundings, killing of stray animals, unhygienic atmosphere from blockage of drainage line and contamination of marine environment, etc.
But a ban on only plastic carry bags cannot eradicate those problems due to presence of other plastic wastes. Disaster created by Dynamite, weapons, poisonous chemicals are well known to everybody but still those are produced and cautiously used as per requirement without putting any ban.
In India, only 15 States favoured total ban on plastic carry bags, 5 partial bans while 9 States did not make any attempt. Partial ban was also not imposed throughout states only in certain places or during certain festivals. Some have imposed ban on use of plastic bags but not on its manufacturing. Even the thickness and sizes of ban plastic carry bags vary from State to State.
It is obvious that produced plastic bags will inevitably find their way into the market and that is happening as shopkeepers of plastic ban state keep buying plastic bags from neighbouring States. In fact, this lack of uniformity in plastic ban policy is putting doubt in the mind of common Indian people on sincerity of government authority towards solving waste plastic problem.
The major polymer manufacturing capacity in India was 15.2 million tons in 2017-18 while consumption was about 16.5 million tons. Hence a portion of plastics had to be import in India. There are more than 22,000 plastic manufacturing units in India contributing significant revenue to the States.
A blanket ban on plastic is undesirable and impractical as the burden of ban will just not be limited to the fastest growing plastic industry sector alone, ban will create problem to horizontal and vertical dependants like the petroleum industry, textile industry, automobile industry, health care, packaging sector and even small scale industry including food delivery outlets, road-side vendors, etc.
The huge economic value of the plastic industry has become a deterrent to the effective imposition of the ban nationwide. That is why industry sector put their strong objection on any plastic ban proposal. Role of plastic industry in large employment generation and huge economical benefit to human society and nation cannot be overlooked. Automatically all Governments are forced to relax the ban after its imposition.
Non-creation of single monitoring authority across India shows the lack of political will to curb the plastic waste problem. In India, all political parties are not in the same tune for finding out a solution. Instead they are busy to gain extra millage from supporters by bringing or opposing the plastic ban policy particularly before elections.
People’s participation is very vital for success in any Government policy. On one side plastic bags are cheaper, convenient and easy available with all vendors, on other side there is not much seriousness on creating proper plastic disposal infrastructure, or following effective plastic waste collection mechanism, or enforcement of plastic ban policy strongly across state. All these together have confused the common Indian people, irrespective their cast, gender, qualification, age, service, etc., and made them least interested to participate in plastic ban policy.
The dustbin placed by municipal authority or others in bus stands, railway station, airports, big bazaars, market places, etc. as ‘Wet’ and ‘Dry’ dustbin create confusion among people as they can’t decide to dispose the food waste along with thermocol or plastic thali / plates by putting in which dustbin. Similarly, waste tissue paper and newspaper parts also confuse the consumers during disposal in dry or wet dustbin.
There is a necessity now to think out of box, instead of plastic waste alone, time has come to manage all wastes together. It will only be possible if wastes are sorted at source and channelize in different disposal procedures by giving separately to waste collectors.
Success of door to door collection system depends on (a) proper separation of different type of wastes by waste creators, (b) sincerity of sanitary persons on placing different wastes in different disposal system instead of again mixing and dumping and (c) creation of infrastructures in every city or urban areas by government for scientific and beneficial disposal of different type of wastes.
Let the common people, traders and various industries use as much quantity of plastics as they can for the betterment of human life, ban on indiscriminate littering of plastics as well as wastes will protect the environment from degradation. Complete ban on ‘indiscriminate littering’ means no littering in outside, which is possible if sorting of wastes in source and handing over wastes to right persons and in right places are made compulsory. There will be no alternatives other than recycling and ultimate maintenance of hygienic environment. The needs of present day are change in habit of common people (throwing wastes in outsides or cutting plastic wastes into small pieces, both creates problem in disposal) and change in thought process ( wastes are not wastes but resource materials only and need proper care for further use).
(The author is a retired senior scientist of DRDO and an expert researcher and trainer on biodegradable waste management)
