On the eve of World Plastic Overshoot Day (4th September), a study published in the Nature Journal highlighted India as the largest plastic polluter in the world, contributing to over one-fifth of global plastic pollution. Globally, plastic pollution remains an ever-increasing threat with images of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and animals trapped in plastic coming into public attention every few days. This article aims to give an overview of plastic pollution in the world, explain why India fares so poorly, evaluate policy initiatives and highlight the social costs – the ever-increasing externality that remains prevalent in the Indian economy.
Plastic Pollution: What it is and Where we stand
Plastic is a synthetic organic material made from petroleum and gas. It is used in sectors galore, such as packaging, construction, automobiles, electronics, households, agriculture, medical, etc. The biggest user is the flexible packaging sector accounting for 42% of India’s plastic consumption.
Plastic waste refers to plastic that has reached its end of life after its usage. Plastic pollution arises when plastic waste is not disposed of properly and enters the environment. Most mismanaged plastic enters the environment as macroplastics which are pieces larger than 0.5mm. When the macroplastics are exposed to solar radiation, fire, wind and natural factors, they depreciate into microplastics/nanoplastics (pieces smaller than 0.5 mm). Due to abrasion, microplastic particles are shed by-products such as synthetic textiles and tyres.
Globally, it is estimated that 52.1 million metric tons (Mt) of mismanaged plastic enter the environment annually and this number is bound to grow without proper measures and intervention.
While the largest per capita users of plastic are developed countries like the USA and EU, the major share of plastic pollution is contributed by countries in Asia, Africa and South America. This is a result of better waste collection, disposal and recycling employed by developed countries leading to much lower mismanaged waste. In 2024, India topped the list of plastic polluters followed by Nigeria and Indonesia.
Source: Phys.org
Plastic Pollution in India
India’s plastic pollution is ~9.3 Mt per year, of which ~5.8 Mt are burnt and ~3.5 Mt enter the environment in the form of debris. The reasons for such high pollution levels are primarily the inefficiencies in plastic waste collection, disposal and management.
The Nature study states that the national waste collection rate of 95% claimed by the CPCB is overstated and the actual collection rate is ~81% because it does not account for rural areas, open burning of uncollected waste, or waste recycled by the informal sector. This is backed by a CSE report from 2020 which states that the 95% collection rate includes waste collected by the informal sector. It has been observed that the waste collected by the informal sector (mainly ragpickers) does not include multi-layered plastics (MLP), non-recyclable, single-use, and hard-to-recycle plastics.
The Nature report further states that the ratio of uncontrolled landfills to sanitary/controlled landfills is 10:1, leading to open burning of landfills and further increase in debris.
In addition to the above, microplastics are also released directly into the environment from sources like tyre abrasion, shedding of textile fibres, pellet production, and paint. A report estimates that India will release ~4 lakh tons of microplastics into waterways in 2024.
Chemical additives used in the production and processing of plastic are another major source of pollution. A report estimates that India will release ~31,000 tons of additives into waterways in 2024.
Social Costs: The Unsolved Externalities
The social, environmental and economic costs associated with plastic use and pollution are manifold as shown in the table below.
The social cost of the plastic industry in India is estimated at US $62-96 billion for the year 2023 as per a report by ORF. This includes the cost of plastic production, emissions in the production process and mismanaged plastic waste. The effect of plastic waste emissions on land is US $157 million and marine dumpsites are around US $25-51 billion.
The report further states that if we continue in the business-as-usual scenario, the social cost in the plastics industry for the period 2025-2030 is ~US $541 billion. On the other hand, if a circular plastic value chain is adopted, the cost reduces to ~US $370 billion. Many socio-environmental aspects have not been considered indicating that actual social costs are likely to be higher.
Interventional policies: A market Tool?
Some of the policies implemented by the government are:
- Single-use plastics (SUP) ban: This policy aims to phase out single-use plastics in the country. India defines single-use plastics as plastic items intended to be used once before being disposed of or recycled. This policy was implemented on 1st July 2022. India has banned 19 categories of SUP. The government decided that a blanket ban was not in order as it would be too disruptive for the industry and economy. Due to the unclear definition, there is no clear demarcation of unrecyclable and unnecessary plastics. Many of the items not banned have a higher environmental impact than their utility (eg: plastic bottles, size 250 ml and smaller). As a result, the policy has not been able to achieve its objectives and SUPs continue to remain in circulation.
- Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2016 (amended in 2018, 2021 and 2024): These Rules aimed to increase minimum carry bag thickness while the 2018 amendment aimed to phase out MLP. Enforcement has been inconsistent across states, due to limited infrastructure.
- Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) 2022: It is a policy where the producer/ importer/manufacturer of plastic is responsible to take the product back and recycle it. In India, the EPR policy is limited only to flexible, rigid and Multi-layered packaging. It aims for a collection rate of 100% by 2024 and a recycling target of 80% (rigid) and 60% (MLP and flexible) by 2030. It also obligates the use of recycled plastic in the production process. The obligation to use recycled plastic is far less than the obligation to recycle which is likely to impact the scaling up of the recycling business. Further, EPR is currently limited to very few plastic goods leaving a lot of products uncovered.
Even with all the policies in place, social costs are borne by the people not infusing such costs into the environment. The EPR does bring in some level of circularity but many of the social costs of the plastic industry on the economy are not accounted for. The deadweight loss of the externality in market-driven pricing is still not being factored in.
Is Recycling the Stairway to Redemption?
Plastics are categorised into 7 types, namely PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, and Others. The first 5 are recyclable according to CPCB.
Source: CSE
The recycling types mentioned by the CPCB are primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary recycling. In India, mainly secondary recycling is undertaken, which converts the plastic waste into pellets which can then be used again. These pellets are generally of an inferior quality to the original plastic resulting in lower uptake.
As of 2023, the recycling rate in India is just 13% with the government aiming to achieve 60% by 2030. Recycling does help in ensuring that plastic waste is re-used thereby ensuring that fresh plastic production can be reduced. Further, the recycling sector has the potential to be a big employer and is expected to be a US $3648 million size industry by 2030. However, this scale-up will require significant investments in collection, segregation, R&D and recycling infrastructure.
Recycling itself, however, cannot solve the plastic pollution problem on its own. To start with, not all plastics are recyclable. Further, recycling tends to reduce the quality of plastic thereby limiting its use vis-à-vis virgin plastic. Lastly, recycling is also an energy-intensive activity and has its own environmental footprint.
The Way Forward!
Strong implementation and execution can lead to significant improvements. China, which was previously the worst polluter globally, has now improved to fourth position primarily through enhanced waste collection and processing.
The policy landscape should focus extensively on proper collection, waste segregation, citizen awareness, recycling infrastructure, formalising the informal sector, and bans and regulations. Moreover, to bring about sustainable living, it is essential to reduce overall plastic consumption and look for alternatives. As it should be said more often “Minimalism does not exhibit stinginess but empowerment”.