Single use plastic ban since July 1: Why is India banning it, and why it isn’t enough

India's plastic waste generation has more than doubled in the last five years

In a move to save environment from the menace of plastic pollution, the Centre has issued guidelines asking states to ban the use of ‘single-use plastic’ from July 1, 2022. For everyday use, the ban applies to the following — cigarette packets, balloon sticks, candy and ice cream sticks, cutlery items like plates, cups, glasses, forks, spoons, knives, trays, plastic sticks used in earbuds, invitation cards, polystyrene (thermocol) used in decoration, balloons, sweet boxes, plastic or polyvinyl chloride banners less than 100 micron and plastic stirrers. 

Combating pollution caused by single-use plastics has become a significant environmental concern for all nations.  India is the fifth-largest producer of plastic waste. According to Environment Ministry data, India's plastic waste generation has more than doubled in the last five years with an average annual increase of 21.8 per cent, one of highest growth rates in the world.

A report by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), more than 34 lakh tons of plastic waste was generated in 2019-20 of which approximately 15.8 Lacs tons of plastic waste was recycled and 1.67 lacs tons is co-processed in Cement Kilns. The rest remained unaccounted for, which means it is in the environment (land and water) or in dumpsites in contrast, 30.59 lakh tons of plastic waste was generated in 2018-19.

Maximum quantity of plastic waste is generated in Maharashtra followed by Tamil Nadu and Punjab. However, it is important to point out the data does not gives a clear picture. The reason being only 14 of 35 regional pollution boards has filed information on plastic waste generation. This includes major plastic producing states like Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Incidentally, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are the states (along with 18 others) that have imposed a complete ban on plastic carry-bags since a couple of years. Yet, there has been no decrease in plastic production and consumption. This implies that the complete figure for plastic waste in India is much higher than reported by the CPCB.

India is also considered one of the major plastic polluters to the ocean. According to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), around 1.99 million tonnes of plastic leakage in India ends up in oceans. India is second in this category after China (2.21 million tonnes).

While the Union government proposal of countrywide ban on single use plastic comes to effect from today, one central and many state regulations already exist to ban plastics. However, enforcement of the existing rules has been poor (as seen in the data above).

The need to tackle this problem has been identified at both the national and international level. India was one of the 175 countries that pledged to develop a legally binding international treaty to curb plastic pollution across the world. As the data shows, merely imposing bans won't solve the problem. It needs a much more integrated and rational approach.