Plastic Waste

Plastic is an artificial polymer (repeating molecules). It is so useful for mankind that we use it in everything. We use it as a packaging material, storage material, construction material, garments, sanitary and protection equipment, toys, educational material, as well as in electronic equipment.

It is impossible to imagine human life without Plastics:

• In medicine, the equipment cannot be imagined without plastic, from PPE to medicine packaging, from injections to gloves, all are made up of plastic-based synthetic material.
• Plastic is the cheapest product in any type of manufacturing industry.

It’s a challenge that you could find an object in your room that does not contain plastic! Even the paint on a pencil is made up of plastic. If you find a thing having no plastic, comment it in this article on our website and we will show where exactly it contains plastic. 

It has several advantages over other materials such as glass, metals, cotton, wood etc.

• Synthetic polymers are lightweight, durable and can be easily moulded.
• Packaging: It creates an excellent water & Oxygen barrier and thus preserves our food.
• They are mass-producible and cheap. It is mainly a byproduct of Crude.
• Less emission during production: Making and moving glass bottles uses 5 times more energy. Production of Paper bags creates significantly more pollution.

Above all, Plastic is fully recyclable. Plastic is not the problem but littering is. 

Types of Plastics based on Size

Based on its effect on the environment, plastics can be classified as:

• Macroplastic: > 25mm. Only this type of plastic can be recycled.
• Mesoplastic: 5mm to 25mm. This can be recycled, but such plastic is often not picked up by the waste collectors as it is not economically feasible to recycle it.
• Micro-plastic: These are plastic pieces of size 0.1mm to 5mm. Long which if engulfed by marine life can pose grave danger to them. Possibilities are even greater since they easily pass through water filtration systems. They come from a variety of sources, including from larger plastic debris that degrades (UV radiation) into smaller and smaller pieces.

Microbeads have emerged as a new form of threat. First patented in 1972 for use in cleansers. Due to their abrasive nature, microbeads began to replace natural materials like ground almonds, oatmeal and sea salt in the area of cosmetics, e.g. as exfoliating agents in facewash or toothpaste.

The Problem of Plastic

The very advantages of plastics have become their disadvantages for the environment. Once the plastic material enters the environment during its end of life, it persists and creates several problems.

1. It’s Non-biodegradable: It takes 500-1000 years to break down. We currently produce 380Mn Tonnes of plastic each year.
2. Ocean Pollution: It will outweigh all the fish by 2050. 8 million tonnes of pollution is produced annually. Gyres of Plastic are ground in the Ocean. For example, in the Indian Ocean and Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).
3. Bio-Accumulation: Many animals & birds die due to ingestion of indigestible trash. Microplastic is now entering the food chain and our microbiology; 
   • Most of it comes from the natural degradation of larger plastic wastes.
   • They can affect our metabolisms. 
   • It may have effects on genetics. They can be carcinogenic;
4. Impact on Drinking Water: The Centre’s own estimate shows over 60% of about 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste generated daily is collected. This essentially means 10,000 tonnes of trash being released into the environment.
   • Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river systems are on the UN map of 10 rivers worldwide that collectively carry the bulk of plastic waste into the oceans.
   • Micro-plastic is now even found in drinking water.
5. Impact on Food security: Leaching of harmful chemicals into the food chain such as Bisphenol-A can impact productivity.
6. Air Pollution: The disposal of plastic waste by incineration is a leading cause of air pollution.
7. Vector Borne Disease: They provide abundant surface areas for colonization opportunities. In addition, these plastics are essentially rafts for organisms to travel further than they usually would, making them vectors for spreading invasive marine species.

Plasticrust

A new Kind of Pollution found by Researchers: a thin coating of plastic that’s growing on the rocks at the seashore. It is being called ‘Plasticrust‘. Analysis of the crust indicated that it’s composed of polyethene, which is the most commonly used plastic, often found in food and product packaging.

Recyclability of Plastic

Plastic is fully recyclable, and should ideally pose no challenge to the environment. However, it is so cheap that people it is often not economically viable to recycle it, or the composition of the plastic is so complex that it is not technically feasible to recycle it.

Classification of plastic based on recyclability

Plastic packaging can be roughly grouped into three categories: 

1. Recyclable Plastic: Larger pieces of plastics are effectively handled by the informal sector such as ragpickers and Kabadiwallahs.
2. Technologically recyclable but not economically viable to recycle – For example, Such packaging material is made up of very thin sheets of plastic. If it is picked up by the ragpicker, it can be recycled. But it is not profitable enough even for the ragpicker to pick it up. Therefore, we need regulation so that plastics of more than a certain thickness are produced.
3. Plastic that is Technologically challenging to recycle (or non-recyclable). For example, Multilayered packaging (such as Tetrapack) often contains layers of aluminium and paper along with plastic. It is technologically impossible to separate such material. 

“Science Advances” – Research Journal has shown that about 50% of the plastic we use is Single-use Plastic.

• 9% of plastic is recycled.
• 12% is incinerated.
• 79% is left in the environment.

By 2050: We will produce 1.2bn Tonne of plastic.

Single Use Plastic

It refers to disposable plastics that are commonly used for plastic packaging and include items intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. There is no fixed definition for single-use plastic, and it varies from country to country (India is in the process of giving a statutory definition to single-use plastic.

Plastic Imports: 

In India despite a ban on the import of plastic waste into India, the influx of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles has quadrupled from 2017 to 2018 thanks to a legal loophole. 

• Indian firms are importing Plastic from China, Italy, Japan and Malawi for recycling and the imports of PET bottles, scrap & flakes have increased from 12,000 tonnes in FY-16-17 to 48,00 tonnes in FY 17-18.
• China, once a major global importer of plastic waste for recycling, had banned such imports.

The solution to the Plastic Problem

We can’t ban plastic. Its substitutes are more degrading to the environment; For example:

• Cotton bag has to be used 1000 times in order to produce emissions similar to plastic.
• One-third of all food is never eaten. Plastic prevents food from spoiling etc.

Therefore, we need to find a solution to live sustainably with Plastic. For this, the following steps must be taken:

1. Circular Economy: We need to make a circular economy for plastics in which nearly all plastic is recycled. Any type of plastic, which is not recyclable, must be phased out.
2. Awareness & Individual efforts: Valuable as they are, voluntary efforts cannot achieve what systematic reforms can.
3. Environmental Protection Act: the overarching law that enables anti-pollution rules to be issued, should be implemented in letter & spirit.
4. Extended Producer responsibility (EPR): Producers or consumer brands should pay for the disposal of their packaging, instead of pushing costs onto communities.
5. The problem is global in nature: Global Mechanism Needed; similar to UNFCCC, Kyoto & Montreal etc.
6. Take Solid waste management Rules & Plastic waste management rules seriously.

• The power to collect fines and regulate waste should be delegated to the local level.
• Companies have to submit their plans for management of waste. The onus of disposal & recycling of products & materials is with producers, rather than the government or taxpayers.  But companies pretend to be unaware.
• India generates 16L tonnes of plastic waste annually; If sold at 50Cent/kg; it can generate ₹5,600Cr.

• Alternatives: Such as Bio-plastics can be explored.

Bio-Plastics

Bio-plastic is simply biodegradable plastic. Although the word Bio-plastic can have different meanings. This significantly reduces the impact of plastic pollution. 16 bio-plastics-producing companies in India have permission from CPCB. These items can be broken down by the microbes in Industrial composting facilities within 6 months. Its Production takes place from a dozen of different feedstocks. For example, Polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) can be synthesised using bacteria. Problems in their Use: Cost Problem: They are produced from by-products of food crops; Thus, they are expensive; Compared to conventional plastics which are derived from fossil fuels. A bio-plastic carry bag can cost almost thrice as much as a conventional plastic bag. Technology Problem: All raw materials for making bio-plastics such as PLA come from China or Europe. Indigenous products are cost-effective. They need Composting facilities: Most of the cities don’t have such facilities. Thus, they end up in the environment untreated and harm it like normal plastic. Ways to Promote Bio-plastics: Setting up composting infrastructure. No minimum thickness rule for bio-plastics: Conventional plastic films are typically thick to allow recycling, or for farmers who want to remove them after use. Recyclable plastic is not required to be thick. They don’t need to follow the 50-micron rule. Policy intervention: subsidies for electricity consumption, lower GST (or GST exemption) etc. Today only 2% of global plastic production is bio-based, according to the American Lux research.

Govt. Steps:

• Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (amended in 2018), tries to define & regulate it.
• Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018: Phasing out of Multi-layered Plastic (MLP) applies only to MLPs that are “non-recyclable or non-energy recoverable or have no alternate use”.
• National Marine Litter Policy: To identify the source of litter, especially the plastic waste that flows into India’s coastal waters.
• 2 Oct 2019: Plastic Ban: Plastic bags, cups & straws. Although the decision is withheld; even though it is intended to be done. 
  • India aims to get rid of single-use plastics by 2022.
• More than 20 Indian states have announced bans on plastic bags. [thickness based]
  • Bengaluru had announced a complete ban on the manufacture, sale & use of thermocol & plastic items irrespective of their thickness.
• Taj Declaration: aims at gradual phasing out of single-use plastic water bottles and cutlery in the 500-metre radius of the Taj Mahal in the next five years and to make the monument litter-free.

Global steps:

For Marine litter:

• Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML): 
  • It was launched at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012 in response to a request set out in the Manila Declaration on Furthering the Implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. 
  • Multi-stakeholder Approach: It provides a platform for: cooperation and coordination; to reduce and prevent marine litter and plastic pollution from land and sea-based sources.
  • Specific objectives include: reducing the leakage of plastics into the ocean through improved design; the application of the ‘3Rs’ principle (reduce, re-use, recycle); encouraging ‘closed-loop’ systems and more circular production cycles; and maximization of resource efficiency and minimization of waste generation.
• G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastics Litter which is aimed at facilitating further concrete action on marine waste, though voluntarily.
• Honolulu Strategy – A Global Framework for Prevention and Management of Marine Debris
  • By UNEP
  • It is a framework for a comprehensive and global collaborative effort to reduce the ecological, human health, and economic impacts of marine debris worldwide.
  • It is organized by a set of goals and strategies applicable all over the world, regardless of specific conditions or challenges.
• Basel & Stockholm Convention in 2019 took steps on Plastics.
  • Basel: Microplastic litter found in seas is determined as ‘waste’.
  • Stockholm: Plastics can absorb POPs such as PCB, DDT & dioxins.
• Ocean Clean Up (2013): The project started to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP); A Rotterdam-based NGO. GPGP is a zone between Hawaii and California. About 1.8 Trillion pieces of plastic float on the surface of the GPGP.

UNEP-led initiatives: 

• Launched #CleanSeas campaign to eliminate major sources of marine litter, microplastics in cosmetics and the excessive, wasteful usage of single-use plastic by the year 2022.
• Global Tourism Plastics Initiative: aims to articulate, support and scale up action by tourism stakeholders and is building a global alliance to fight plastic pollution.
  • It is part of the activities of the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the One Planet network and led by the UN Environment and the World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
• Declared the theme for World Environment Day 2018(5th June) as ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. 
  • It was held in India.
  • Declaration to ban Single-use plastic by 2022.
• At the 5th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) held in March 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya, world leaders adopted a historic resolution to end plastic pollution and create a legally binding global treaty by 2024. This landmark resolution aims to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040, protect ecosystems, and promote sustainable materials. The treaty, once finalized, will be one of the most significant environmental agreements since the Paris Climate Accord.

1. Global Plastic Treaty – Governments agreed to negotiate a legally binding treaty addressing the full life cycle of plastics, including production, design, and disposal.
2. Focus on Circular Economy – The resolution promotes recycling, sustainable alternatives, and waste reduction to minimize plastic pollution.
3. Plastic Waste Reduction Targets – Nations committed to setting national targets for reducing plastic waste, promoting eco-friendly materials, and improving waste management.
4. Addressing Microplastics – Measures were introduced to tackle microplastic pollution, particularly in marine and freshwater ecosystems.
5. Support for Developing Nations – Financial and technical support was proposed to help developing countries transition to sustainable plastic management.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste: 

• An NGO recently founded that includes companies from all across the world. From India Reliance Industries is a part of the alliance. It has committed over $1.0 billion to invest $1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment.
• Decisions taken on the domestic front:
  • The environment ministry has put in place a ban on identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential. 
  • The Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility(EPR) on plastic packaging have also been notified. 
  • These provide the legal framework for addressing plastic pollution.

Plastic waste management rules, 2016

These rules were declared by the Prime Minister in 2016 with the Goal of freeing India from single-use plastics from 2nd Oct 2019. The important provisions are as follows: 

Responsibility of waste generators

Responsibility of waste generators/producers is being introduced for the first time. Individual & bulk generators like offices, commercial establishments, and industries are to segregate the plastic waste at source, hand over segregated waste, and pay user fees as per the bylaws of the local bodies. 

Responsibility in two aspects: 

• Waste management system: Producers keep a record of the vendors to whom they have supplied raw materials for manufacturing carry bags, plastic sheets, and multi-layered packaging. This is to curb the manufacturing of these products in the unorganised sector.

• Extended Producer Responsibility: producers and Brand owners have been made responsible for collecting waste generated from their products. They have to approach local bodies for the formulation of a plan/system for plastic waste management within the prescribed timeframe.

Collection System of Plastic Waste: 

The producers/brand owners to entrust more responsibility to waste generators, namely payment of user charges as prescribed by the local authority, collection and handing over of waste by the institutional generator, and event organizers.

• Public events: marriage functions, religious gatherings, public meetings etc held in open spaces are included. 
• Plastic waste management fee: through pre-registration of the producers, and importers of plastic carry bags/multi-layered packaging for establishing the waste management system.

Waste Management

• Reduce: In the absence of a suitable alternative (eco-friendly substitute), it is impractical and undesirable to impose a blanket ban on the use of plastic all over the country. 

1. 1. 1. Phasing out of Multi-layered Plastic (MLP): These are “non-recyclable, or non-energy recoverable, or with no alternate use.” Introduced in 2018 amendment.
      2. Fine against Retailers who provide the commodities in plastic bags/plastic sheets/multi-layered packaging that do not conform to these rules. 

• Recycle: 

1. 1. 1. The minimum thickness of Plastic bags permitted: is 75 microns from Dec 2021, and 120 microns from December 31, 2022, according to the notification published on August 12, 2021.
      2. Manufacturing and use of non-recyclable multi-layered plastic(MLP) to be phased in two years.
      3. Provisions have been introduced to ensure their collection and channelization of packaging material to the authorised recycling facilities.

• Recover: 

1. 1. Promotes plastic waste for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines 
   2. Energy recovery, or waste to oil etc. for gainful utilization of waste and also address the waste disposal issue; 

Rural areas have been brought into the ambit of these Rules since plastic has reached to rural areas too. Responsibility for the implementation of the rules is given to Gram Panchayat.

Departmental Roles:

• State Pollution Control Board (SPCBs) will not grant/renew registration of plastic bags, or multi-layered packaging unless the producer proposes the action plan endorsed by the concerned State Development Department.
• State-level monitoring committees have to be established.
• Central registration system for the registration of the producer/importer/brand owner. The registration should be automated and should take into account the ease of doing business for producers, recyclers and manufacturers. It will be evolved by CPCB for the registration of the producer/importer/brand owner. 

Challenges in the implementation of the rules: 

• Political Will: Policy coherence to achieve the goal has been lacking. 
• Bans have little impact: The Central Pollution Control Board has reported that 22 States have, in the past, announced a ban on single-use plastic, but this has had little impact on the crisis of waste choking wetlands and waterways and being transported to the oceans to turn into micro-plastic.
• The sheer volumes of Plastics: At about 34 lakh tonnes generated in 2019-20, India has a staggering annual volume of plastic waste, of which only about 60% is recycled(acc. To the govt.). 
• Segregation at Source Missing: Considerable amounts of plastic waste cannot be recycled because of lack of segregation, leading to incineration, while mixing newer types of compostable plastic will confound the problem. 
• Poor State-level Policy: State governments have felt no compulsion to replace municipal contracts, where companies are paid for haulage of mixed waste, with terms that require segregation and accounting of materials. 
• Cross-State movement: Patchy regulation has led to prohibited plastic from moving across State borders. 
• Microplastic is already found in the food chain, and governments must act responsibly to stop the scourge.

• Lack of efforts at the local level:
  • The necessary momentum to bring these rules into application has to come from the state governments, which has not yet come. State-level monitoring committees provided under the rules have not been made accountable.
  • Local bodies are mandated to ensure segregation, collection, & transfer of waste products to recycles; as well as collection of penalties; this has not happened on the ground.
• The provisions of plastic waste management rules require manufacturers of compostable bags to get a certificate from the CPCB, but this has not stopped counterfeit products from entering the market.

Expected Question: Plastics have become an inevitable part of everyday life with very few cheaper alternatives. In this context analyse the importance of the Plastic Waste Rules, 2016. (250 Words)

Extended Producer Responsibility

The Principle of Extended Producer responsibility (EPR) requires the manufacturer of a product to take responsibility for its life cycle. We have discussed this concept in the previous chapter.

Producers and Brand owners have been made responsible for collecting waste generated from their products.  For example, An FMCG company should also account for the collection and recycling/reuse of its packing material. 

Notified EPR guidelines for plastic packaging waste.

Before the 2016 rules, EPR was left to the discretion of the local bodies. In the new rules, it has been made mandatory, with the following provisions being in place: 

• Producers and Brand owners have to approach local bodies for the formulation of a plan/system for plastic waste management within the prescribed timeframe. The new regulations mandate recycling and reusing a certain percentage of plastic produced by manufacturers, importers and brand owners.
• Obligations: 
  • Registering with the central and state pollution control boards has also been compulsory under the new rules.
  • Recycling the mandated percentage of plastic: a company would have to submit a certificate to the relevant authority.
• Tradable certificates: if more than the mandated amount is recycled by the producer, it would be awarded a certificate that could be sold to other companies. 
• The guidelines specify four categories:

• Category 1: rigid plastic packaging; 
• Category 2: Flexible plastic packaging of single layer or multilayer. 
• Category 3: Multi-layered plastic packaging and one material other than plastic.
• Category 4: Plastic sheet or like used for packaging as well as carry bags made of compostable plastics.

• Other Features: 

• Development of “new alternatives to plastics and provide a roadmap for businesses to move towards sustainable plastic packaging”.
• The government has also called for the establishment of a centralised online portal by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the registration as well as filing of annual returns by producers, importers and brand-owners, plastic waste processors of plastic packaging waste by March 31.

The idea is to create an eco-system of recycling and incentivising it. Recycling will now be driven by market forces and this will create a circular economy.

Problem with the recently released EPR guidelines: 

• Rag-pickers not included: It fails to mention waste pickers or outline mechanisms for their incorporation under EPR.   

• Disregard the existing chain: The SBM Plastic Waste Book attributes India’s high recycling rate to the informal sector. However, the guidelines don’t involve them as stakeholders, instead, they direct producers to set up a private, parallel plastic waste collection and recycling chain. 

• No Social Security: Between 1.5 and 4 million waste pickers in India work without social security, health insurance, minimum wages or basic protective gear.  This aspect is completely ignored.

• Limited scope: It is limited to plastic packaging, while a large part of single-use or throwaway plastic packaging are other multi-material plastic items like sanitary pads, chappals, and polyester that pose a huge waste management challenge today, but have been left out of the scope of EPR.

• Issue of recycling of contaminated plastics: Typically flexible plastics like LDPE and PP bags are recyclable, but due to their contamination with organic waste, lightweight, and high volume, the costs of recycling are prohibitively expensive relative to the market value of the output. Contaminants attract rodents and microbial growth. 

• Multi-layered and multi-material plastics to continue: These are expensive to handle and transport. Even if this plastic is picked, recycling is technologically challenging as it is a heterogeneous material. The Plastic Waste Management Rules mandated the phase-out of these plastics. However, in 2018, this mandate was reversed.

• Misunderstood Processing: Not all processing is recycling. Processes like waste-to-energy, co-processing and incineration have been proven to release carbon dioxide, particulate matter, harmful dioxins and furans which have negative climate and health impacts. 

• No case for investment support: Technologies like chemical recycling and pyrolysis are capital-intensive, yielding low returns and running into frequent breakdowns and technological problems. They also release carbon dioxide and other pollutants. GAIA estimated that such technologies wasted at least $2 billion in investments, due to permit complications, operating costs, etc. 

Way Forward: 

• Involve ragpickers: An effective EPR framework should address the issue of plastics and plastic waste management in tandem with the existing machinery, minimise duplication and lead to a positive environmental impact, with monitoring mechanisms including penalties for non-compliance.  
• Fund and Utilize Exiting Chains: EPR funds could be deployed for mapping and registration of the informal sector actors, building their capacity, upgrading infrastructure, promoting technology transfer, and creating closed-loop feedback and monitoring mechanisms. For easily recycled plastics, EPR requirements could have been fulfilled by formalising and documenting the work of the informal sector and adequately compensating them. 
• Government must regulate the job: Without strong government regulation, the millions of workers who have shouldered the burden of waste management for decades will stand to lose their livelihoods – only so that companies can keep meeting their targets to continue producing plastic.
• Addressing infrastructure needs: the government could support and strengthen the informal recycling chain by bridging gaps in adequate physical spaces, infrastructure, etc.
• The mandated use of recycled plastics, as prescribed in the draft regulations, is a strong policy mechanism to create this value. Market value for these plastics can be increased by increasing the demand for and use of recycled plastics in packaging, thus creating the value to accommodate the current costs of recycling. 

 Conclusion: the government should redo the consultation process for the draft guidelines and involve informal workers. The scope of plastics covered by the guidelines could be altered to exclude those plastics that are already efficiently recycled and to include other plastic and multi-material items. End-of-life processing technologies should be closely evaluated, based not only on their health and environmental impacts but also on the implications for continued production of low-quality and multi-layered plastics.

What is Plastic?

Plastic is an artificial polymer made of repeating molecules. It is widely used due to its durability, flexibility, lightweight, and cost-effectiveness.

Why is Plastic so widely used?

Plastic is:
Lightweight
Durable
Cheap to produce
A good barrier for water & oxygen
Fully recyclable (if managed properly)
Essential in industries like healthcare, packaging, construction, electronics, and textiles.

What are the different types of plastic based on size?

Plastics are classified as:
Macroplastic: >25 mm (Recyclable)
Mesoplastic: 5 mm to 25 mm (Recyclable but rarely collected)
Microplastic: 0.1 mm to 5 mm (Extremely harmful to marine life)
Microbeads: Tiny plastics used in cosmetics for exfoliation.

Why is plastic a problem for the environment?

Major problems caused by plastic waste:
Non-biodegradable (takes 500-1000 years to degrade)
Ocean pollution & microplastic contamination
Bio-accumulation in the food chain
Air & water pollution from burning or dumping
Impact on health (cancer-causing chemicals, hormone disruption)
Vector for spreading diseases

What is the impact of plastic on oceans?

Around 8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters oceans annually. If current trends continue, plastics will outweigh fish in the oceans by 2050. Large gyres of plastic are forming, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.