Plastic Waste Management

Impact of Plastic Waste

 §  Economic Losses: Plastic waste along shoreline has a negative impact on tourism revenue (creates an aesthetic issue).

o   For example, the Andaman and The Nicobar Islands, are under the plastic threat and facing the aesthetic issue because of the international dumping of plastic waste at the island.

§  Implications for Animals: Plastic wastes have profoundly affected animals in aquatic, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems.

o   PLASTIC INJESTION upsets or fills up the digestive systems of the animals thus contributing to their death due to intestinal blockage or starvation.

o   Marine animals can also be trapped in plastic waste where they are exposed to predators or starve to death.

o   The plastics may also contain toxic chemicals which can harm the animal’s vital organs or biological functions.

§  Implications for Human Health: The chemicals leached from the plastics contain compounds, like polybrominated diphenyl ether (anti-androgen), bisphenol A (mimics the natural female hormone estrogen) and phthalates (also known as anti-androgens), impact human health leading to various hormonal and genetic disorders.

o   These chemicals can interfere with the functioning of the endocrine system and thyroid hormones and can be very destructive to women of reproductive age and young children.

§  Land Pollution: Plastics leach hazardous chemicals on land, resulting in the destruction and decline in the quality of the earth’s land surfaces in terms of use, landscape and ability to support life forms.

§  Air Pollution: Plastic burning releases poisonous chemicals into the atmosphere impacting general well-being and causing respiratory disorders in living beings.

§  Groundwater Pollution: Whenever plastics are dumped in landfills, the hazardous chemicals present in them seep underground when it rains. The leaching chemicals and toxic elements infiltrate into the aquifers and water table, indirectly affecting groundwater quality.

§  Water Pollution: Many lakes and oceans have reported alarming cases of plastic debris floating on water surfaces, affecting a great number of aquatic creatures. It leads to dreadful consequences to marine creatures that swallow the toxic chemicals. In 2014, United Nation report estimated the annual impact of plastic pollution on oceans at US$ 13 billion.

§  Interference with the Food Chain: Studies determine that the chemicals affect the biological and reproduction process resulting in reduced numbers of offspring thus disrupting the food chain.

o   When the smaller animals (planktons, molluscs, worms, fishes, insects, and amphibians) are intoxicated by ingesting plastic, they are passed on to the larger animals disrupting the interrelated connections within the food chain.

§  Poor Drainage: Drainage system clogged with plastic bags, films, and other plastic items, causes flooding.

§  Impact on Habitats: Seafloor plastic waste sheets could act like a blanket, inhibiting gas exchange and leading to anoxia or hypoxia (low oxygen levels) in the aquatic system, which in turn can adversely affect the marine life.

§  Invasive Species: Plastic waste can also be a mode of transport for species, potentially increasing the range of certain marine organisms or introducing species into an environment where they were previously absent. This, in turn, can cause subsequent changes in the ecosystem of the region.

Challenges

§  Mismanaged Plastic Waste (plastic dumped openly): In the form of microplastics/microbeads when plastic enters the environment via inland waterways, wastewater outflows, and transport by wind or tides cannot all be filtered out once it enters the ocean.

o   As plastics travel with the ocean currents, an island of trash called the GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH has been created.

§  Spurious Biodegradable Plastic: In the absence of robust testing and certification to verify claims made by producers, spurious biodegradable and compostable plastics are entering the marketplace.

§  Online or E-Commerce Companies: Apart from the plastic we consume through traditional retail, the popularity of online retail and food delivery apps, though restricted to big cities, is contributing to the rise in plastic waste.

§  Microplastics: After entering into the aquatic environment, microplastics can travel vast distances floating in seawater, or sediment to the seabed. A recent study has revealed that microplastics in the atmosphere are trapped by the clouds and the falling snow.

o   Microplastic particles are commonly white or opaque in colour, which is commonly mistaken by many surface-feeding fishes as food (plankton) and can even move up the food chain to human consumers (from eating contaminated fish/seafood/shellfish).

§  Marine Litter: Plastic pollution in freshwater and marine environments have been identified as a global problem and it is estimated that plastic pollution accounts for 60-80% of marine plastic waste.

§  Terrestrial Plastic: 80% of plastic pollution originates from land-based sources with the remainder from ocean-based sources (fishing nets, fishing ropes).

§  Improper Implementation and Monitoring: In spite of the notification of the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, 2016 and amendments made in 2018, local bodies (even the biggest municipal corporations) have failed to implement and monitor segregation of waste.

§  Reduce: First step in reducing plastic waste is to minimize single-use plastics by supporting a tax on plastic bags, restraint on manufacturing of plastics, and using alternatives of plastic or biodegradable plastic.

o   For example Project REPLAN (stands for Reducing Plastic in Nature) launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) aims to reduce the consumption of plastic bags by providing a more sustainable alternative.

§  Reuse: Reusing plastics can reduce the demand for new plastics, hence it can act as the natural restrain on plastic manufacturing.

§  Recycle: Plastic recycling is the process of recovering waste or scrap plastic and reprocessing it into useful products. It offers several benefits like:

o   Economic benefits due to value addition

o   Generates employment

o   Reduces depletion of fossil fuel reserves.

o   Reduces landfill problems

o   Recycling of plastics requires less energy

 

Plastic Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 – What’s New?

1.    The new plastic waste management rules is aimed at reducing 6,000 tonnes of uncollected plastic waste generated daily by targeting manufacturers and industries by using a new principle called the Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) Act. The other modalities of the new plastic management rules are as follows:

2.    Increase minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns and stipulate minimum thickness of 50 micron for plastic sheets also to facilitate collection and recycle of plastic waste.

3.    Expand the jurisdiction of applicability from the municipal area to rural areas, because plastic has reached rural areas also.

4.    To bring in the responsibilities of producers and generators, both in plastic waste management system and to introduce collect back system of plastic waste by the producers/brand owners, as per Extended Producers Responsibility.

5.    To introduce a collection of plastic waste management fee through pre-registration of the producers, importers of plastic carry bags/multilayered packaging and vendors selling the same for establishing the waste management system.

6.    To promote the use of plastic waste for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines or energy recovery, or waste to oil etc. for gainful utilization of waste and also addresses the waste disposal issue.

7.    To entrust more responsibility on waste generators, namely payment of user charge as prescribed by the local authority, collection and handing over of waste by the institutional generator, event organizers.

8.    To implement these rules more effectively and to give thrust on plastic waste minimization, source segregation, recycling, involving waste pickers, recyclers and waste processors in a collection of plastic waste and adopt polluter pays principle for the sustainability of the waste management system.

Missing Links in the revised Plastic Waste management rules

1.    Though the rules have broadened the scope of the existing Plastic (waste management and handling) Rules, 2011, there is no mention on how to reduce plastic waste in the new rules.

2.    While it has focused on the use of plastic carry bags by increasing the minimum thickness from 40 microns to 50 microns, there has been no specification on the other forms of plastics such as the mineral water bottles (PET).

3.    One aspect that was not dealt with was the informal sector of waste collection. In Delhi, the informal sector employs about 150,000 people who transport almost 1,088 tonnes per day of recyclable waste

4.    The rules do not provide for a law which needs to be based around incentives and disincentives.

5.    Plastic waste management has worked for some states such as Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim. But it has failed in Delhi. The draft rules have not worked on developing an effective model for plastic waste management all across the country.

6.    There has been no mention of any scheme or mechanism through which a producer/manufacturer shall comply with EPR, like the Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) under e-waste rules.

7.    They do not mention plastic material for packaging gutkha, pan masala and tobacco.

 

Way forward:

The rules need to be strengthened further. Their main purpose should be to discourage the use of plastic in the country. EPR is still loose and needs to be worked upon for better implementation of these rules. A clear directive of how EPR should be followed needs to be included. The penal provisions are weak and need to be worked upon. There should be an inclusion of a heavy penalty for non-compliance with the rules for effective implementation.

India generates almost 1.5 MT of plastic waste every year. Less than a quarter of the waste is being collected and treated. Until we find a reliable eco-friendly alternative to plastic that can replace it completely, effective plastic management systems should be our imperative.