India’s plastic waste generation doubled in 5 years

Responding to a query raised in the Lower House of Parliament, Indian Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Choubey said that India’s plastic waste generation has more than doubled in the last five years with an average annual increase of 21.8%.

More than 34 lakh tons of plastic waste was generated in 2019-20 and 30.59 lakh tons in 2018-19. According to data shared by the minister, in the last five years, the quantity of plastic waste in the country has more than doubled, as the country produced 15.89 lakh tons of plastic waste in 2015-16.

The ministry statement added that annual data on the generation of solid waste, plastic waste, e-waste, construction and demolition (C&D) waste, bio-medical waste (BMW) and hazardous waste (HW) in the country is compiled by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

“Based on the studies undertaken by the CPCB on hazardous waste and data compiled in respect of other wastes, the average annual increase observed in generation of hazardous waste is two per cent, in bio-medical waste is 5.8%, solid waste 0.1% and plastic waste 21.8%,” the minister said in his written reply. He said the data is collected from the respective State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committees (SPCBs/ PCCs) in line with the provisions contained in various rules notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Responding to another query on biomedical waste, the minister said India produced 677 tons of biomedical waste per day in 2020 while in 2019 it produced 619 tons BMW per day. In 2015, the BMW produced in India was 502 tons per day, the data showed. In response to another question on the number of complaints received on unscientific or illegal disposal of biomedical waste across the country, the minister said that the CPCB had received a total of 23 public complaints between 2016 and 2021.

As the Down to Earth website points out, the draft Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2021, issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on March 11, has necessitated a few changes in the country’s handling of its plastic waste. One, the amendment has extended the applicability of the rules to brand-owner, plastic waste processor, including the recycler, co-processor, etc.  It will also include new definitions of non-woven plastic bags, plastic waste processing, single-use plastic (SUP) items, thermoset plastic and thermoplastic.

According to Down to Earth, as much as 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste was generated in India in 2018-19, as per the CPCB report 2018-19. This roughly translated to 9200 tonnes a day. The total municipal solid waste generation is 55-65 million tonnes; plastic waste is approximately 5-6 per cent of the total solid waste generated in the country. Goa has the highest per capita plastic waste generation at 60 grams per capita per day, which is nearly double of what Delhi generates (37 grams per capita per day). The annual report was compiled based on submissions from the SPCBs, though the source of the data provided is unclear as no state-wise survey has been conducted so far. It is important, however, to note that the estimations of the report are substantially lower than the ones mentioned in the 2015 CPCB report on Assessment and quantification of Plastic Waste Generation in major Cities. It extrapolated data based on the findings from 60 cities in India. It reported that close to 25,940 tonnes per day (approximately 9.4 million tonnes per annum) of plastic waste was generated in the country.

Despite the Plastic Waste Management legislation of 2011, followed by numerous changes in the recent past, most parts of the country lack systematic efforts required to mitigate the risks associated with plastic waste, Down to Earth adds. The states started providing data on the same only in 2018-19 for the first time. A legal obligation has been reduced to a mere formality, and there is a lack of concern, motivation, awareness, compliance and enforcement of the rules.

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in its 2019 report titled Good news from India claimed that India recycles over 60 per cent of its plastic, which was way higher than the recycling capacity of any developed country. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the lack of a functioning solid waste management system in India leads to burden on the landfills and poor socio-economic conditions of the waste pickers, mostly women.