22 Oct

Plastic Pollution

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Contents

• How is plastic disposed off?
• Harmful Impacts of Plastic Pollution
• Efforts towards Reducing Plastic Waste
• International Efforts
• Key Challenges faced by Plastic Waste Management in India
• Why is a global Treaty on Plastic Pollution required?

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Introduction

• Plastic is a lightweight, hygienic and resistant material which can be molded in wide range of applications and is cheaply manufactured. Because of these reasons, since the 1950s, the production of plastic has outpaced almost all other materials.

Extent of Plastic Pollution:

• Globally, plastic production stands at about 400 million tonnes, and could double by 2040.
• Global Plastic Production by Industrial Sector, 2015

How is plastic disposed off?

• According to the UNEP, as of 2015, of the 9 billion tonnes of Plastic that the world has ever produced, only 9% has been recycled and 12% has been incinerated, the balance 79% has accumulated in landfills or in the natural environment.
• India produces around 10 million tonnes of plastic per year of which around 5 million tonnes is rendered waste every year. Therefore, its crucial that this waste is properly managed.

Harmful Impacts of Plastic Pollution

Physical Pollution: Pieces of plastics interact with living bodies and ecosystems. It causes physical harm through ingestion, choking and entanglement hazards to wildlife on land and in ocean.

• For e.g. UAE in the UAE an estimated 1% mortality rate of dromedary camels is attributable to plastic pollution.
• Similarly, microplastics can be ingested by organisms at the bottom of food chain like oceanic planktons. This may reduce photosynthesis and growth.

Chemical Pollution: A number of chemicals used in plastic are toxic and carcinogenic and are responsible for infertility, recurrent miscarriage, feminization of male foetuses etc.

Environmental Impacts: Plastisphere: Sometimes called the ‘Plastisphere’, bacteria, viruses and other life colonize the surface of plastic waste, creating distinct communities and population structure. – They may also contribute in growth of invasive species. For e.g., more than 80% of invasive species in the Mediterranean may have arrived on floating plastic waste.

Health and Social Impact: Health losses, welfare losses -> unusable parks, Sewage Blocking -> Malaria, Dengue etc.

• As per a study published by World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) in 2019, an average human may be ingesting as much as 5 grams of plastic every week. This is because 1/3rd of the plastic waste that is getting generated ends up in nature, especially water, which is largest source of plastic ingestion.
• Welfare loss associated with visual disamenity of a park being contaminated with litter.
• Blocking of sewage due to plastics also contribute to vector borne diseases like Malaria and Dengue.

Economic Impact

• Visual pollution negatively impacts the tourism sector. – Further, future cost of removing these plastics from nature is higher than the cost of preventing the littering today.
• Exacerbate disasters like floods – an important cause of urban floods.
• Even the biodegradable plastics have many unintended consequences.
• Exacerbates Climate Change: Plastics are 80% carbon and more than 99% of plastics use crude oil, fossil gas or coal as feedstock. Manufacturing also involves burning of large quantities of fossil fuels to provide high energy demands of the industrial processes.
  • By 2015, the total estimated lifecycle emissions from plastics were 1.78 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent (GtCO2e). For context, if the whole plastics lifecycle were a country, it would be fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.

Some Recent Domestic Efforts Towards Reducing Plastic Waste and Ensuring Better Plastic Waste Management

• Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 (as amended in 2021)
  • Min thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased to 120 microns from 31st Dec 2022 (after the 2021 amendment to the rules).
  • Ban on Several Single Use Plastic: The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of several single use plastics (e.g ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic plates, cups, glasses etc.) including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene commodities shall be prohibited wef from 1st July 2022 (as per the 2021 amendment)
    • Plastic Packaging Waste, which is not covered under the phase out of identified single use plastic items, shall be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through the EPR of producer, importer and Brand Owner (PIBO), as per the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
      • For effective implementation of EPR, the Guidelines for EPR being
        brought out have been given legal force through the Plastic Waste
        Management Rules, 2021.
  • Expand the coverage to rural areas. The earlier regulations only covered urban municipal areas.
  • Introduces Extended Producer Responsibility for producers and generators of Plastic Waste.
  • Shopkeepers and Vendors can only use plastic carry bags which have been properly labelled and marked for use or else there will be imposition of fines.
  • ULB and Panchayats have been provided with the responsibility of establishing and operating waste management systems.
•  Guidelines on EPR for Plastic Packaging under ‘Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016: Notified in Feb 2022
  • Mandatory Registration on the centralized portal developed by CPCB of entities such as producer, importer, brand owners and waste processors of plastic.
  • The guidelines categorizes SUPs in 4 categories and provides targets for minimum level of recycling.
  • Environmental Compensation shall be levied based upon polluter pay principle, with respect to non-fulfilment of EPR targets.
  • Sale and Purchase of surplus EPR certificates are allowed -> this has thus set up market mechanisms for plastic waste management.
  • Focus on Digitization: Implementation of EPR will be done through a customized online platform which would act as the digital backbone of the system. It will allow tracking and monitoring of EPR obligations and will reduce the compliance burden for companies through online registration and filing of annual returns.
  • Further, to ensure monitoring on fulfilment of EPR obligations, the guidelines have prescribed a system of verification and audit of enterprises.
  • Producers, importers, & brand owners, may operate schemes such as deposit refund system or buy back or any other model.
  • CPCB shall constitute a committee under chairpersonship of Chairman, CPCB  that shall be responsible for recommending measures to MoEF&CC for the effective implementation of EPR that shall include amendments to the EPR guidelines.
  • Promote development of new alternatives to plastics
• Significance:
  • Gives boost to formalization and further development of plastic waste management sector.
  • By operationalizing EPR, the amendment implements the ‘Polluter Pay Principle”.
  • It aims to hold manufacturers and producers of ecologically unsustainable plastic items financially and socially accountable for the pollution these materials cause.
  • Online Monitoring mechanism -> Increase accountability
  • Market based approach -> Promotes Ease of Doing Business.
  • The amendment demonstrates India’s political will to address the challenge of plastic pollution.
  • Promote Development of Alternatives

• Concerns/Challenges
  • The biggest challenge will be to implement highly ambitious recycling and reuse targets in a country where various existing waste management rules haven’t been implemented.
• Strengthening of waste management infrastructure through Swatch Bharat Mission.
• Promotion of Alternatives:
  • CPCB has already provided certificates to more than 300 manufacturers of compostable plastics.
  • India Plastic Challenge – Hackathon conducted for development of innovative alternatives to SUP.
• Steps for Effective Monitoring (E.g., an SUP Public Grievance App, an SUP compliance Monitoring Portal etc.)
• Stricter Punishment:
  • Those found violating the SUP ban would be penalized under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 – which allows for imprisonment upto 5 years, or a penalty upto Rs 1 lakh or both.
• Awareness Generation:
  • Mascot ‘Prakriti’ has been launched to spready awareness about how small lifestyle changes can play a big role in environmental sustainability.
• Promoting Alternative uses of Plastic Waste:
  • For e.g: waste plastic is being used as replacement of coking coal (by upto 1%) in steel manufacturing.
  • MoRT&H have also issued guidelines for use of plastic waste in road construction.
• WWF-India and CII have joined hands to develop a platform to promote a circular system for plastics. The new platform is called, the ‘India Plastic Pact’.

International Efforts

• Steps towards Plastic Pollution Treaty: In 2022, the UN member states agreed to start
  negotiating new global treaty to end plastic pollution. Now its is crucial that the treaty that is finalized is ambitious and effective enough to truly address the plastic crisis.
  • As of July 2023, 2 negotiation meetings, for the new treaty has taken place.
• Awareness and Education:
  • The theme of World Environment Day, 2018 was “Beat Plastic Pollution” and it focused on increasing awareness related to plastic pollution across the world.
• EU Parliament bans 10 single use Plastics with effect form 3rd July 2021.
• Other International Initiatives which deal with Plastic Waste

i. #Clean Seas campaign of UN Environment

• • • To reduce and eliminate the use of single use plastic, cosmetics and micro-plastic sources.

ii. Stockholm Convention on POPs

• • • It is an international environment treaty that came into force in 2004 and aims to restrict or eliminate the production of PoPs.

iii. Honolulu Strategy by UNEP aimed at reduce marine debris.

Key Challenges faced by Plastic Waste Management in India

• Problems like lack of people’s participation, source segregation, absence of a suitable
  alternatives etc are increasing the load on plastic management sector.
• Domination of Informal sector: Around 70% of the plastic waste management industry is informal in nature and yet no major effort towards formalizing the industry has been pushed in recent times.
• Plastic Waste management has been put under a 5% GST bracket hurting the formal sector, which already lacks a concrete action plan.
• Implementation of Plastic waste management rules have been poor in all aspects.
  • In the past too, many states in India have banned plastic at state level. However, these bans have a very little impact on ground.
  • A CAG Report in Dec 2022 highlighted that MoEF&CC has no mechanism to assess the collection and safe disposal of plastic waste. This has led to poor implementation of the 2016 rules as well as the EPR guidelines.
• Since waste management is the responsibility of the local bodies, the resource constraints with our local bodies in terms of human resource and infrastructure is another major challenge.
• COVID-19 pandemic has increased the plastic pollution burden drastically – masks, gloves, sanitizer bottles, PPE kits etc.

Way Forward in India

• Improving the Waste Management System

• Promoting Circular Economy: As per a recent report by UNEP titled – “Turning Off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy” – Global Plastic Pollution can reduce by 80% by 2040 if countries and companies make deep policy and market shifts using existing technologies and shift to circular economy.
• Reducing the Usage of Plastic
  • Focus on Packaging Innovation -> Promote Eco-friendly alternatives: This will reduce the use of plastic for packaging purpose which has expanded in recent years, especially due to e-commerce.
    • Companies need to invest more in R&D to find sustainable alternatives.
      • Taxing Plastic Production can also increase the cost of plastic and thus help in reducing the usage
      • Awareness generation among end users.
• Steps to implement EPR -> innovative solutions such as offset mechanism and deposit refund schemes
  • The producers/generators may also form waste cooperatives and employ informal waste pickers if offset mechanism is in place.
• Strengthening Local Bodies -> More resources with local bodies can be ensured by support from producers. This resource can contribute in more sustainable waste management system by ensuring better infrastructure.
• Social Awareness and Public Pressure
• International collaboration and coordination -> A Global pact like Montreal Protocol and Paris Agreement for the reduction of plastic production and usage.

Conclusion
With a worldwide crisis due to plastic waste, India has to find a way to curb its plastic pollution at the earliest and that is only possible when all the stakeholders take the responsibility of ensuring minimization, reuse and recycling of plastic to the maximum.

Need of a Global Treaty

Background: In 2022, the UN member states agreed to start negotiating new global treaty to end plastic pollution. Now it is crucial that the treaty that is finalized is ambitious and effective enough to truly address the plastic crisis.

• The Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution is in the process of developing “an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment”
• As of July 2023, 2 negotiation meetings, for the new treaty has taken place.

Why is a global Treaty on Plastic Pollution required?

i. Plastic Pollution is a global problem which requires global solution. Most of the plastic is being dumped into oceans. This is eventually converting into micro-plastics, entering food chain and affecting everyone.
ii. Plastic pollution is harmful to wildlife and biodiversity which is impacting everyone.
iii. Increased International Cooperation will be feasible through a global treaty.
iv. The treaty may set global target for reduction
v. A global treaty may make the fight against plastic pollution more fair -> by giving higher
responsibility to developed economies and giving more time to under developed countries.

Way Forward:

• Fast Track the Negotiation to finalize the treaty quickly (unlike the agreements under UNFCCC which took many years of negotiations.
• The treaty should have plans to reduce production and consumption of plastics and chemicals used in plastics, especially by businesses.
• It should have provisions to regulate priority sectors like packaging which use unsustainable amounts of plastics.
• Along with reduction, transparency with respect to production, consumption and import/export of plastic and plastic waste has to be created and nurtured at a global level.

Conclusion: A strong global plastic treaty would be a major step forward in the fight against plastic pollution. It will not only help environment, but will also be crucial for human health and our future.