No more a dumping field

In a long-awaited move, India has imposed a complete ban on the import of solid plastic waste and scrap. Until now, there was only a partial ban. Special Economic Zones and Export-Oriented Units were allowed to import such waste for recycling. The complete ban is a move in the right direction, in line with India’s commitment of completely phasing out single-use plastics by 2022.But a segment of the recycling industry is concerned that the move would affect their revenues.

After China imposed a ban on importing plastic waste in 2017, India had emerged as one of the major destinations to dump plastic waste for countries across the globe. A steady supply of cheap waste kept the recyclers busy while domestically produced waste continued to pile up in dumpyards and street corners. Officials have pointed out that the revenues of recyclers are unlikely to take a beating. In fact, India locally generates more waste than it can handle. We generate a massive 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste daily, of which a good 40 per cent does not get recycled.

China, Italy, Japan and Malawi were the top exporters of plastic waste to India, claims Delhi-based NGO Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch, which has been advocating for a complete ban on import of plastic wastes for a long time.  The organisation also alleges that the import of PET bottles increased from 12,000 tonnes in FY 2016-17 to 48,000 tonnes in FY 2017-18. Environmentalists now hope that when this international supply is cut off, recyclers will be increasingly dependent on local waste, thereby reducing the pollution burden of the country.

There will be a positive impact not just on local ecosystems, but also on the livelihoods of ragpickers. Ragpickers would now become  crucial source points for recyclers to buy waste. Their incomes are likely to increase in proportion to the increased demand for local waste, say rights activists. Perhaps this would be a good time for recyclers to rope in ragpickers into the formal economy by employing them as field hands.