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Plastic waste and its management GS : 3 "EMPOWER IAS"

Plastic waste and its management GS : 3 "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

  • The threat posed by plastic waste to the environment is well established. The corona pandemic has led to an increase in plastic waste.

 

Rising plastic use during pandemic

  • In 2018, a report by McKinsey estimated that, globally, we generate 350 million tonnes of plastic waste.
  • Only 16 per cent of it is recycled.
  • Today, due to pandemic the amount of plastic waste we are generating is much higher than that estimated in the McKinsey report.
  • The Guardian recently reported that there are possibly more masks than jellyfish in the oceans today.

 

Types of Plastic Waste

  • Microplastics are small plastic pieces of less than five millimeters in size.
     
    • Microplastic includes microbeads (solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension) that are used in cosmetics and personal care products, industrial scrubbers which are used for aggressive blast cleaning, microfibers used in textiles and virgin resin pellets used in plastic manufacturing processes.
    • Apart from cosmetics and personal care products most of the microplastics result from the breakdown of larger pieces of plastic that were not recycled and break up due to exposure to the sun or physical wear.
  • Single-use plastic is a disposable material that can be used only once before it is either thrown away or recycled, like plastic bags, water bottles, soda bottles, straws, plastic plates, cups, most food packaging and coffee stirrers are sources of single use plastic.
    • India has announced its commitment to eliminate single-use plastic by 2022  at Confederation of Indian Industry’s Sustainability Summit in New Delhi.

 

 

Single-use plastic

  • As the name suggests, single-use plastics (SUPs) are those that are discarded after one-time use.
  • Besides the ubiquitous plastic bags, SUPs include water and flavoured/aerated drinks bottles, takeaway food containers, disposable cutlery, straws, and stirrers, processed food packets and wrappers, cotton bud sticks, etc.
  • Of these, foamed products such as cutlery, plates, and cups are considered the most lethal to the environment.

 

Extent of Plastic Waste

  • Plastic Waste as a Global Phenomenon:
    • Over 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced since 1950, and about 60% of that has ended up in landfills or in the natural environment.
    • Only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled and about 12% has been incinerated, while the remaining 79% has accumulated in landfills, dumps or the natural environment.
    • Plastic waste, whether in a river, an ocean, or on land can persist in the environment for centuries, hence by 2050, the amount of plastic in seas and oceans across the world will weigh more than the fish.

 

Plastic Waste in India:

  • According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India generates close to 26,000 tonnes of plastic a day and over 10,000 tonnes a day of plastic waste remains uncollected.
  • According to a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) study the plastic processing industry is estimated to grow to 22 million tonnes (MT) a year by 2020 from 13.4 MT in 2015 and nearly half of this is single-use plastic.
  • India’s per capita plastic consumption of less than 11 kg, is nearly a tenth of the United States of America (109 kg)
  • Per capita consumption of plastic is projected to go up from 11 kg in 2014-15 to 20 kg by 2022 (FICCI data); about 43% is single-use packaging with poor rates of recovery.
  • In spite of the notification of the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016, and amendments made two years later, most cities and towns are not prepared to implement its provisions.
  • Even the biggest Municipal Corporations shouldering a staggering waste burden have failed to implement segregation of waste: collecting recyclable plastic, non-recyclable plastic etc.
  • This is a growing crisis amid criticism of under-reporting of the true extent of plastic waste.

 

Impact of Plastic Waste

  • Economic Losses: Plastic waste along shoreline has a negative impact on tourism revenue (creates an aesthetic issue).
  • For example, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, are under the plastic threat and facing the aesthetic issue because of the international dumping of plastic waste  at the island.
  • Implications for Animals: Plastic wastes have profoundly affected animals in aquatic, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems.
    • Plastic ingestion  upsets or fills up the digestive systems of the animals thus contributing to their death due to intestinal blockage or starvation.
    • Marine animals can also be trapped in plastic waste where they are exposed to predators or starve to death.
    • The plastics may also contain toxic chemicals which can harm the animal’s vital organs or biological functions.
  • Implications for Human Health: The chemicals leached from the plastics contain compounds, like polybrominated diphenyl ether (anti-androgen), bisphenol A (mimics the natural female hormone estrogen) and phthalates (also known as anti-androgens), impact human health leading to various hormonal and genetic disorders.
  • These chemicals can interfere with the functioning of the endocrine system and thyroid hormones and can be very destructive to women of reproductive age and young children.
  • Land Pollution: Plastics leach hazardous chemicals on land, resulting in the destruction and decline in quality of the earth’s land surfaces in term of use, landscape and ability to support life forms.
  • Air Pollution: Plastic burning releases poisonous chemicals into the atmosphere impacting general well-being and causing respiratory disorders in living beings.
  • Groundwater Pollution: Whenever plastics are dumped in landfills, the hazardous chemicals present in them seep underground when it rains. The leaching chemicals and toxic elements infiltrate into the aquifers and water table, indirectly affecting groundwater quality.
  • Water Pollution: Many lakes and oceans have reported alarming cases of plastic debris floating on water surfaces, affecting a great number of aquatic creatures. It leads to dreadful consequences to marine creatures that swallow the toxic chemicals. In 2014, United Nation report estimated the annual impact of plastic pollution on oceans at US$ 13 billion.
  • Interference with the Food Chain: Studies determine that the chemicals affect the biological and reproduction process resulting in reduced numbers of offspring thus disrupting the food chain.
  • When the smaller animals (planktons, mollusks, worms, fishes, insects, and amphibians) are intoxicated by ingesting plastic, they are passed on to the larger animals disrupting the interrelated connections within the food chain.
  • Poor Drainage: Drainage system clogged with plastic bags, films, and other plastic items, causes flooding.
  • Impact on Habitats: Seafloor plastic waste sheets could act like a blanket, inhibiting gas exchange and leading to anoxia or hypoxia (low oxygen levels) in the aquatic system, which in turn can adversely affect the marine life.
  • Invasive Species: Plastic waste can also be a mode of transport for species, potentially increasing the range of certain marine organisms or introducing species into an environment where they were previously absent. This, in turn, can cause subsequent changes in the ecosystem of the region.

 

Plastic waste management

  • The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 notified by the Centre called for a ban on “non-recyclable and multi-layered” packaging by March 2018, and a ban on carry bags of thickness less than 50 microns.
  • The Rules were amended in 2018, with changes that activists say favoured the plastic industry and allowed manufacturers an escape route. The 2016 Rules did not mention SUPs.
  • On World Environment Day in 2018, India pledged to phase out SUPs by 2022.
  • The PM has called for “a new revolution against plastic”, and some government-controlled bodies such as Air India and the Indian Railways have announced they would stop SUPs.

 

Why single-use plastic is different?

  • Plastic is not the problem, our handling of it is.
  • We need plastic, but not SUP, which is difficult to dispose of effectively, and that is where the problem lies.
  • It is important to understand this distinction.
  • By understanding this distinction we may change our behaviour and our lifestyles, to balance our need for plastic with effectively managing its waste.

 

Government and Global Interventions

  • On World Environment Day, 2018 the world leaders vowed to “Beat Plastic Pollution” & eliminate its use completely.
  • The Group of 20 (G20) environment ministers, agreed to adopt a new implementation framework for actions to tackle the issue of marine plastic waste on a global scale.

  • Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 state that every local body has to be responsible for setting up infrastructure for segregation, collection, processing, and disposal of plastic waste.
  • Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018 introduced the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
  • A new national framework on plastic waste management is in the works, which will introduce third-party audits as part of the monitoring mechanism.

 

What does the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 aim to?

  • Increase minimum thickness of plastic carry bags and sheets from 40 to 50 microns.
  • Expand the jurisdiction of applicability from the municipal area to rural areas.
  • Extended producers’ responsibility - To bring in the responsibilities of producers and generators, both in plastic waste management system and to introduce collect back system of plastic waste by the producers/brand owners.
  • Collection of plastic waste management fee through pre-registration of the producers, importers of plastic carry bags/multi layered packaging and vendors selling the same.
  • Gainful utilization of waste - By promoting use of plastic waste for road construction or energy recovery, or waste to oil etc. 
  • Responsibility on waste generators - To pay user charge as prescribed by local authority, collection and handing over of waste by the institutional generator, event organizers.
  • Responsibility of local bodies and Gram Panchayat - To set up, operationalise and co-ordinate the waste management system.
  • Responsibility of retailers and street vendors - To not sell, or provide commodities to consumers in carry bags, or plastic sheet, or multi layered packaging.

 

LIMITATIONS OF PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT RULES, 2016  

  • The rules do not deal with the informal sector of waste collection.  
  • These rules do not focus on reducing plastic waste as there is no mention on how to reduce plastic waste in the new rules. While it has focused on the use of plastic carry bags by increasing the minimum thickness from 40 microns to 50 microns, but it is silent on the other forms of plastics such as the mineral water bottles (PET).  
  • The producers have not shown any interest despite various interventions across the country by government and civic societies.  
  • It lacks steps to spread awareness among the masses about plastic waste. 

 

PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT (AMENDMENT) RULES 2018  

  • The amended Rules lay down that the phasing out of Multilayered Plastic (MLP) is now applicable to MLP, which are “non-recyclable, or non-energy recoverable, or with no alternate use.”  
  • The amended Rules also prescribe a central registration system for the registration of the producer/importer/brand owner.  
  • The centralised registration system will be evolved by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for the registration of the producer/importer/brand owner. 

 

Way ahead:

  • One way to approach the issue is to treat it not just as an environmental problem but as an economic opportunity.
  • We require new business models which are designed for sustainability.
  • In Uganda, they are melting plastic waste to make face shields which are being sold for just a dollar each.
  • But, most of all, we need a tectonic shift in the behaviour of consumers.
  • We need consumers to care about their role in the plastic waste value chain.
  • Under phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) village communities are now starting to plan for setting up waste collection and segregation systems, with material recovery facilities at the block- level.
  • Change is possible when we take necessary steps to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and, when all else fails, Remove, or dispose of plastic waste safely and effectively.