It’s city vs plastic and you’re losing

NEW DELHI: With “beat plastic pollution” being the theme of the World Environment Day this year, there is renewed focus on a problem that has assumed worrying proportions.
According to CPCB data, India generates 15,342 tonnes of plastic waste per day (about 5.6 million tonnes annually), out of which Delhi alone contributes to 690 tonnes daily — making it the largest contributor, followed by the likes of Chennai (429.4 tonnes per day), Kolkata (425.7 tonnes) and Mumbai (408.3 tonnes).



Despite multiple bans on plastic bags in the capital, including a recent NGT order that prohibited non-biodegradable plastic bags fewer than 50 microns in thickness, authorities are yet to fully clamp down on the menace.

While the bans resulted in an initial phase of heavy fines, the number came down considerably after a couple of months. According to a 2014 toxics link study on plastic waste, plastic was contributing directly to ground, air and water pollution and ending up at landfill sites, where it stayed for centuries as it does not decompose easily.

“Plastic bags defy any kind of attempt at disposal, be it through recycling, burning or land filling. Plastic bags, when dumped into rivers, streams and sea, contaminate the water, soil, marine life as well as the air we breathe. When plastic is burned, it releases a host of poisonous chemicals, including dioxin into the air,” the report said. It also highlighted how despite a 2012 ban on plastic bags in Delhi, they were still readily available and in use. A similar ban by the NGT in 2017 saw heavy fines of Rs 5,000 per violator in the first few months with around 30,000 kgs of bags being seized. However, a TOI analysis of popular markets found that the fines had dropped to a bare minimum with the ‘banned’ plastic being sold openly.

“Our study showed that in the initial two months of the ban, plastic usage fell drastically. However, poor implementation meant plastic bags returned to the market again. Fines are a big deterrent, but proper long-term planning is required,” said Priti Mahesh, chief programme coordinator at Toxics link.

Chitra Mukherjee of Chintan, an NGO that focuses on waste management, said waste pickers could only send plastic for recycling if it was segregated. “Currently, almost 90% of the waste is not getting recycled as it is not being segregated at the household level,” Mukherjee added.

CPCB, meanwhile, said producers are now being held accountable under the new solid waste management rules 2016, which introduced “extended producer responsibility” — a move that should ensure more plastic is recycled.