On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami announced that the state would ban single-use plastic items from January 1. Legislation to this effect laying out modalities is expected to follow soon. This effort is welcome. Plastic is proving to be one of the most formidable problems that the world faces today. Reports say only 9 per cent of plastics produced since the 1950s have successfully been recycled. As some have said, the problem with plastics is that humanity has invented something that did its job too well—durable to the point that it cannot be gotten rid of.
In this context, the TN government’s move is timely. However, the ban must be backed by strong implementation and support for efforts towards finding economically viable substitutes for the plastic products. The government has announced that the ban will take effect on 1 January 2019 in order to prepare the industry and users to phase out the products.
It must be noted that the discourse on plastics has moved from hoping to recycle the waste to cutting down on production. The ban will help with this, no doubt. However, multinational corporations, especially in the food and beverage sector, still use a great deal of plastics. Unless pressure is put on them to find alternatives—as has been done in some countries abroad—large-scale production of plastics will continue. Similarly, ordinary consumers must become aware of the hazards of plastics and make more conscious purchasing choices as plastic waste may well be the inheritance we pass on to future generations.
Meanwhile, it is important that the central and state governments pay closer attention to issues of solid waste management to ensure that the plastics—and other materials—are disposed of properly. To begin with, this means that source segregation must be implemented at every level. Too often, waste segregated at homes ends up mixed during the transportation process. A ban is meaningless if not accompanied by proper solutions to the waste already in existence.
