As many as 10 states have not furnished reports on plastic waste generation for the past two years.
There is a gaping hole in data regarding India's annual plastic waste generation as only 14 out of the 35 regional pollution boards reported the necessary information to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The CPCB is a nodal body under the ministry of environment, under which there are state pollution control boards. Under the Plastic Management Waste Rules 2016 (amended in 2018), the state bodies are required to submit yearly reports to the central board by July 31 about the amount of plastic being generated and the ways it is being treated.
Due to lack of information from more than half of the regional boards, the total estimated plastic waste in India, pegged at 660,787 tonnes, may not be reflecting the reality, IndiaSpend reported.
The CPCB has moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to ensure compliance from states with the plastic waste management rules. The NGT has asked states to furnish the required reports by April 30, failing which they will have to pay a penalty of Rs 1 crore to the CPCB.
As many as 10 states have not furnished reports on plastic waste generation for the past two years. These states include Goa, Daman & Diu, Jharkhand, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Therefore, the actual figures of plastic generation and pollution would be much higher if numbers from these states are taken into account.
According to a report by PlastIndia Foundation released in June 2018, India consumes 16.5 million tonnes of plastic annually. Nearly 43 percent of this amount is single-use packaging plastic that is mostly discarded by people. This plastic mostly reaches landfills, drains and rivers, choking them and rendering them useless. It gets into the soil, thereby contaminating it and the ground water.
According to a CPCB study for the year 2011-12, at least 40 percent of the plastic waste in India is not collected from homes. Single-use plastic also does not fetch ragpickers any good price in the recycling market.
Accurate data will be integral in assessing the magnitude of pollution and formulating relevant policies. At the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), India has vowed to oust single-use plastic and ban the import of plastic waste in the country. Hence, these numbers become more important.
