The waste problem

Plastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste globally, and much of it is thrown away within just a few minutes of its first use. Most of this waste is generated in Asia, while the US, Japan and the European Union are the world’s largest producers of plastic packaging waste per capita. In 2015, plastic packaging waste accounted for 47% of the plastic waste generated globally, half of that came from Asia.

Reduction strategies are another option to lessen the number of plastic bags and the amount of single-use plastic packaging.

alternative to multilayered plastic (MLP) used mainly in food packaging as wrappers on biscuit or chips pack, for example.

The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, specified that “manufacture and use of nonrecyclable multilayered plastic, if any, should be phased out in two years”. But after the industry bodies petitioned the Union environment ministry saying there are no alternatives to MLP, an amendment to the rules was made in 2018, saying only those MLPS are to be phased out which are “non-recyclable, or non-energy recoverable, or with no alternate use.”

Since most MLPS can be used for energy recovery, the amendment pretty much exempted all MLPS from being phased out.

The environment ministry, in its advisory issued to states on phasing out of single-use plastics (WHEN), also said that MLPS used for perishable items will not be prohibited because there are

Recycled to lower value applications

Lost in process

Landfilled

Incinerated

Leakage

no replacement technologies available. According to a TERI and environment ministry fact sheet released last year, around 43% of manufactured plastics are used for packaging purpose and most are of single-use.

The CPCB has estimated that each person in India consumes about 9.7 kg of plastics annually, most of which is packaging related. A relatively new addition to the burden of plastic waste is packaging from e-commerce.

According to an analysis by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the current e-commerce market of $35 billion in India is expected to grow at a 25% compound annual growth rate over the next five years. Some e-commerce companies are already assessing cleaner alternatives to packaging. Amazon India, for example, announced last month that it will eliminate single-use plastic from its packaging by June 2020. It will introduce paper cushions, which will replace air pillows and bubble