JUST TWO years after Prime J Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech called for putting an end to the use of single-use plastics, India imposed a ban on 21 such items from July 1, 2022.
While the rollout is a positive step, the Centre's decision not to include packaging plastics, an umbrella term for a host of plastic products used by fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, is likely to come in the way of Modi's plan to make India single-use-plastic-free by 2022. After all, packaging plastic, which includes everything from plastic bottles and sachets to multi-layered plastic (MLP) packets used for junk food, accounted for 59 per cent of the country's plastic waste generated in 2018-19, according to the plastic industry body PlastIndia Foundation.
The reason the FMCG sector has escaped the ban largely unscathed is the skewed discourse conveniently peddled by the industry. They claim that the problem with plastics is only of waste management and not of material production because it can be recycled, repurposed, burned and buried. This selective approach is unlikely to solve the plastic waste problem that is mounting at an alarming rate.
If the trend continues, greenhouse gas emissions from plastics alone would contribute around 15 per cent of the global carbon budget by 2050, warns a 2019 study published in Nature Climate Change. The lifetime cost to society, the environment and the economy of plastic produced in 2019 alone was US $3.7 trillion-more than India's gross domestic product-estimates a 2021 report by international non-profit wwF. Unless action is taken, this cost is set to double for the plastic produced in 2040, it warns.
Denne historien er fra September 01, 2022-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra September 01, 2022-utgaven av Down To Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.