News

Jan 02, 2024

Where does the plastic waste in Indian cities go?

Come June 5 and all eyes across the world will be on India, the global host of

Come June 5 and all eyes across the world will be on India, the global host of World Environment Day, 2018. A country with a recycling economy predominantly driven by informal waste-pickers, India has imposed a complete ban on plastic in several states so far, setting the stage for this year's theme, "Beat Plastic Pollution".

In March 2016, the erstwhile Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 were replaced by the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC). This provides a regulatory framework for management of plastic waste by urban local bodies as well as the waste generators (individual household, institutions, residential and commercial establishments and defence establishments).

Some of the highlights of the central rules are as below:

Amendment (March 2018)

The Amendment Rules lay down the phasing out of manufacture and use of multi-layered plastic which are non-recyclable or non-energy recoverable or with no alternative use. Further, the provision under the Parent Rules requiring shopkeepers and street vendors willing to provide plastic carry bags for dispensing any commodity to register with a local body has been omitted.

However, while we do see and hear of restrictions on the use of plastic, since as early as the 1990s in fact, the country continues to reel under an unprecedented amount of Plastic Waste (PW) being dumped in landfills, strewn around, washed ashore and slowly making its way to the food chain.

Types of plastic material

Plastic materials are categorized into seven types based on their properties and applications. To make recycling easier, universally accepted standards have been developed to help consumers identify and sort out the main types of plastics with marking code.

The classifications or categories defined by the Plastics Industry Association, adopted as IS 14534:1998 of BIS, are as follows:

Polyethylene

Terephthalate (PET)

drink Bottles, Food jars, Jars for jelly,

pickles etc., Plastics Films,

Sheets

High Density

Polyethylene (HDPE)

Low Density

Polyethylene (LDPE)

containers, woven sacks,

Bottles, Plastics Toys, Milk

Pouches & Shopping Bags,

Metalized Pouches

LDPE- Recyclable but not all recycling facility have the option to recycle LDPE.

Polyvinyl Chloride

(PVC)

cable insulations, Multilayer

Tubes

Polypropylene (PP)

Straws

Polystyrene (PS)

Plates, spoons, trays, CD

Covers, Cassette Boxes,

Foams

Thermoset,

Poly Carbonate (PC),

Poly urethane (PU)

FRP

Helmets, Shoe soles.

Plastic ban scenario across India

As many as 18 states across India have imposed a blanket ban on single use plastic. Following is the country map showing states that have imposed a complete ban on single use plastic (in green) and states with partial ban on single use plastic (in red).

The ban is for manufacture, usage, transport, distribution, wholesale and retail sale and storage, import of plastic bags with handle and without handle, and disposable products manufactured from plastic.

The urban footprint

Despite rules in place and amendments being made from time to time to keep plastic waste in check, anti-plastic policies have witnessed limited success.

A study – Assessment and Quantification of Plastic Waste Generated in 60 Cities – published by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2015-16 reveals that there is little or no processing of either Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) or plastic waste or PW in most Indian cities and the metropolises, barring Ahmedabad and Pune, to some extent. According to the study, it is dumped at the disposal site, following the method of crude dumping, where the waste is neither spread nor covered.

Across eight metro cities, Kolkata led the way with 116.79 kg of PW per MT (Million Tons) of total Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), MSW on an average per day, followed by Delhi (102.98kg/MT of MSW) and Ahmedabad (105.07kg/MT of MSW). While no post treatment operation of MSW or PW was performed in either Delhi or Kolkata, Ahmedabad was placed better with efforts being taken to treat organic waste and reduce MSW in landfills using a gas-based power plant.

On track to (mis)management

As per the CPCB report, here is how major cities across the country manage their PW.

The overall plastic waste scenario in the respective states as cited in the annual report 2015-16 of the CPCB is also mentioned, as are the rules or guidelines with respect to use of plastic in these states.

Delhi

Chennai

Tamil Nadu generated approximately 1,50,323 tons of PW during the year 2015-16. There are 301 registered and 112 unregistered plastic manufacturing/recycling units and five compostable units in the state. During 2015-16, approximately 26.8 tons of PW were used for road construction in the state.

There is a partial ban on plastic carry bags in the state.

Bangalore

The total PW generated in Karnataka during 2015-16 stands at approximately 1,29,600 tons/annum. As many as 205 ULBs perform source segregation of waste. The state has imposed a complete ban on use of plastic carry bags and 167 ULBs have fixed prices for carry bags to be provided by shopkeepers and vendors.

Hyderabad

Total PW generated in Telangana during 2015-16 was about 1,20,961 tons/annum. The state has as many as 195 registered and 15 unregistered plastic manufacturing/recycling units.

Ahmedabad

At the state level, the estimated plastic waste generation in Gujarat is approximately 2,69,294 tons/annum. There are 689 registered plastic manufacturing/recycling units and nine multilayer plastic units. Approximately 52,746 MT of plastic waste is co-processed in cement plants.

The use of plastic carry bags is completely banned in the city of Gandhinagar.

Explicit pricing of carry bags has been implemented by a few Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Marking and labelling provisions, mentioned under PWM Rules, 2016 are followed by most of the manufacturers present in the state.

Mumbai

Pune

Maharashtra generated approximately 4,69,098 tons/annum of PW during the year 2015 -16. The state recently imposed a complete ban on use of plastic carry bags and disposable products manufactured from plastic and thermocol.

Kolkata

There are about 71 plastic manufacturing/recycling units in West Bengal polymer bitumen roads have been constructed by many municipalities. There is a ban on paper on the use of plastic carry bags in ecologically fragile areas and certain heritage and tourist places.