Prime Minister Modi made announcements on August 15 and October 2 2019 that India would eliminate single-use plastics (SUPs) by 2022.
In this context, here is a look at the usage scenario and alternatives for Single Use Plastics (SUPs).
What are SUPs?
SUPs refer to plastics that are used just once, as in disposable packaging and in items such as plates, cutlery, straws etc.
Nearly 43% of India’s plastics are used in packaging and much of it is single-use plastic.
There are also completely unnecessary single-use plastic entering homes in the form of covers for invitation cards, magazines, wrappers and advertisements.
Single-use plastic is only part of the massive challenge with management of all kinds of plastic waste.
But it is good to begin with SUPs because its large and growing volume adds enormously to the total plastic waste.
How have SUPs use and ban been?
Ever since plastic was invented by John W Hyatt in 1869, it has been an integral part of people’s lives.
It contributed much to the convenience of modern living because of the flexibility, durability and lightness of the material.
India recycles much more than the industrialised countries through an informal network of waste collectors and segregators.
However, the fast-growing consumption has clearly outstripped India’s current capacity to recycle plastics.
Despite the reuse potential of plastics, it is often not done so because they are available very cheap and are, therefore, not valued.
The growing volume is, to a great extent, because of rising e-commerce in India, which largely use single-use plastic for disposable packaging.
The companies have made commitments to phase out their use of SUPs, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Close to 20 states in India have imposed a partial or total ban on SUPs at one time or another.
Maharashtra, TN, Telangana and HP opted for complete bans, while others including MP, Bihar and Odisha have tried partial bans.
But the bans have, by and large, not been successful because of poor state capacity to enforce.
Moreover, in India, plastic producers have been advocating thicker and thicker micron sizes for carry-bags.
Also, when there is a ban on carry-bags, it leads to the use of non-woven polypropylene (PP) bags.
These bags feel like cloth and are now even being printed to look like cloth.
But these are more dangerous for the environment as their fine fibres rub off and enter global waters as micro-plastics.
What are the threats?
Plastic does not decompose naturally and sticks around in the environment for thousands of years.
Discarded plastic bags create the greatest problems in waste management.
Blown by wind into drains, they cause flooding of urban areas.
Used as waste-bin liners to dispose of daily food scraps, they find their way into the stomachs of roaming livestock.
Animals ingest them to get the food inside, which ultimately causes their death.
All plastic waste is eventually carried by rain, streams and rivers into the oceans.
A Texas-sized great garbage patch of floating plastics swirling in the Pacific first attracted attention in the 1960s.
A similar or even greater quantity of sunken plastic, especially discarded fishing gear, called ghost nets, blankets the ocean floors.
Both floating and sunken plastics kill riverine and marine life.
What are the possible measures, alternatives and challenges therein?
Compulsory charge by retail stores on carry-bags has proven most effective in reducing their use without a ban.
In Ireland, a minor charge added to every bill saw a 95% reduction in demand for such carry-bags.
In India, the Plastics Waste Management Rules 2016 included a clause in Rule 15 which called for explicit pricing of carry-bags.
This required vendors to register and pay an annual fee to the urban local bodies.
But lobbying by the producers of plastics ensured that this clause was removed by an amendment in 2018.
Alternatives, for plastic materials, that are environmentally harmless should be promoted.
E.g. cloth bag to wrap luggage at airports, paper plates, bamboo straws, butter-paper as bread wrappers, tear-proof paper for magazines, invitations and advertising
Plastic granules - SUPs can potentially be converted by thermo-mechanical recycling into plastic granules.
These can be used for blending into other plastic products, usually irrigation piping for agriculture.
Collection of post-consumer waste and recycling poses a major challenge especially when packaging comprises layers of different types of polymer.
The multi-layer flexible packaging, which is used for chips and other snacks, cannot be made into granules.
This is because it contains layers of plastic with different melting points.
The Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016 require creators of such packaging waste to take it back at their cost.
Otherwise, they should pay cities for its management under Extended Manufacturer Responsibility.
But there is little compliance on this.
There is a need to build awareness of the damage caused by SUPs and develop consumer consciousness to minimise their use.
Roads - Recycled plastic can be used to strengthen roads.
Use of plastics more than doubles or triples road life.
This has been approved by the Indian Road Congress and mandated by the National Highway Authority in November 2015.
It is allowed for up to 50 km around every city with a population of over 5,00,000.
To date, over 14,000 km of so-called plastic roads have been built which are long-lasting and free of pot-holes.
But corruption in road contracts restricts the wider use of this as longer-lasting roads means fewer contracts for building and rebuilding poor quality roads.
Biodegradable pith - Thermocol could be replaced with totally biodegradable pith from the shola/sola plant (Aeschynomene aspera), a wild marsh-land reed.
This was used in huge quantities till the 1950s for making sola-topees or pith helmets for colonials and their armies.
It is still used in weddings and Puja decorations.
Steady commercial use of this could be promoted to be a source for rural income generation.
What should be done?
There is a need for many more innovative ideas and a fundamental change in mindsets to minimise the use of single-use plastics.
It is high time the country also turn to the larger challenge of plastic waste management.
This is essential to continue to effectively avail of the many advantages offered by plastics in modern lifestyle.
