plastic waste management

Atul Kanak

If the disposal of urban waste is done properly, then this task can be easy. In April 2016, when India enacted a law relating to the disposal of urban waste, it also provided that plastic producers would also set up plants related to the recycling of plastics within a period of six months. However, how many producers would have done this till now, everyone knows. Then there are also some technical problems in the recycling of plastics.

The increasing use of something reflects its popularity. But the economist Gresham’s law should also be kept in mind that bad money drives good money out of circulation. The utensils used on social and community occasions did not pose a concern for waste control, before the use of plastics in India grew exponentially. He just had to manage them. But this is not the case with plastics. An estimated eight million tonnes of harmful plastics are dumped into the ocean every year, which is not only indirectly harming the ecology, but has also become an enemy of life for marine life.

Apart from this, ‘microscopic’ pollution from plastics is also adversely affecting soil, air, water and food. Ease of transport and packing has led to a growing trend around the world to deliver food in plastic packaging that is endangering both the user’s health and the environment. Perhaps this is the reason that now there is a demand in different countries of the world to the effect that the producers who sell their products in plastic packing should be charged extra duty.
Specific plastic bags are banned in about thirty-three countries, but the law has failed to take its course due to the lax attitude of agencies that ensure compliance with the ban rules. Then, in some countries, producers have replaced the banned plastic with a specific type of plastic.

In this way, they have escaped from the clutches of the law, but are using plastic as an alternative to plastic. A section of intellectuals in developed countries said that ‘organic plastic’ made from trees can be more eco-friendly instead of ordinary plastic. But studies have found that in some ways the management of organic plastics can be more cumbersome and harmful than synthetic plastics. It has its own dangers for the environment.

Plastic, which protects products from water and moisture, is lighter, more durable, and more affordable than many alternatives. Perhaps this is the reason why a section of intellectuals says that plastic is not a problem in itself, but its misuse and lack of its proper management is a problem. The concern of plastic waste management can be overcome to some extent if the waste dumped by the population is disposed of properly and the waste plastic is sorted and transported to the appropriate area for recycling. But the world does not seem very serious in this matter. In this respect, India’s figures are surprisingly impressive compared to many tech-rich countries.

A plastic called polyethylene terephthalate is used in the manufacture of soft drink bottles and in India the plastic of these bottles is recycled at a rate of ninety percent, while in countries like Japan this rate is 72.1 percent and Europe has 48.3 percent. In fact, scrap pickers and waste pickers in India earn some income from sorting these bottles and roam the streets and collect soft drink bottles. From there these bottles reach for recycling through an unorganized system. They make products like polyester and denim. From this point of view, ordinary rag pickers and scrap dealers actually play a more important role in environmental protection than the so-called elites.

If the disposal of urban waste is done properly, then this task can be easy. In April 2016, when India enacted a law relating to the disposal of urban waste, it also provided that plastic producers would also set up plants related to the recycling of plastics within a period of six months. However, how many producers would have done this till now, everyone knows. Then there are also some technical problems in the recycling of plastics. For example, different types of plastics used in plastic packaging. These different types of plastics are used to give different levels of protection to the product. All these cannot be solved in one way. Thermoplasts are melted down to make special types of bricks, which are used as fuel in cement plants. But burning of plastic will emit harmful gases. If the use of these bricks is to be made harmless, then they have to be used at a temperature of one thousand degrees Celsius. According to a study, in the year 2017, six million tonnes of plastic waste was produced in India itself. It is not possible to dispose of this plastic in such a large quantity without proper consciousness, strong will and adequate means.

Madurai R. Vasudevan has shown a way to the country and the world in this regard. In 2001, he started work on a project to build roads with the help of plastic waste and in 2006 got a patent for his work. R. Vasudevan’s roads solve two problems at once. They not only show the way of plastic waste management, but also save the common man and the system from the problem of frequent potholes on the roads, as these roads are water resistant and even after years of construction, they remain on them. There are no pits. In this respect they are found to be much stronger than conventional bitumen or ballast-cement roads. Not only in Tamil Nadu, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, many roads have been constructed using his technique in the neighboring country of Bhutan as well and these roads have been found to be very durable in terms of quality. But due to repeated obstruction of road construction and road repair contractors and their friendly officers, this experiment is still not very popular in the country. But this experiment can play an important role in freeing the country and the world from the worry of plastic waste disposal.

Efforts have been made to manage plastic in India, but these efforts are not proving enough in comparison to the environmental crisis caused by plastic. In 2016, the minimum thickness of plastic carry bags was increased from 40 microns to 50 microns. The then Minister of State for Environment, Prakash Javadekar had publicly said that out of the plastic waste generated in the country every day, 6,000 tonnes of waste is such, which is not possible to collect. Central and several state governments have also shown interest in tightening plastic management norms, including banning single-use plastic products. It remains to be seen whether the heaps of plastic waste are disposed of in time or remain a challenge to humanity.