Brushing our teeth with a plastic brush and toothpaste that comes in a plastic tube as soon as we wake up and take a bath using a plastic bucket and mug. Plastic is deeply embedded in a modern daily household. India generates approximately 9.46 million tonnes of plastic waste per year, an estimated 25,940 tonnes per day of plastic waste generation, as projected by Central Pollution Control Board.
The government of India has banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, and sale of single-use plastic from 1st July 2022, in line with PM Modi’s call to phase out single-use plastic by 2022. India’s step to phase out single-use plastic is the most ambitious and revolutionary plan so far to tackle plastic pollution in the world. But India’s history of plastic regulations tells a different story.
The first regulation to ban single-use plastic in India was enacted in 1999 when the sale of thin polythene bags was restricted. Afterwards, three national laws and various state legislatures have been enacted to phase out these products. But through various such steps taken in the last two decades, we have not able been to achieve the purpose.
The immediate question rise after the ban is what are the alternatives? The government’s failure to identify and promote sustainable alternatives to SUPs is one of the major reasons for the failure of bans in the past. Plastic is cheaper than sustainable alternatives and small-scale manufacturers need government patronage, subsidies and supportive infrastructure to fill the gap of plastic in the market.
The alternatives sector does not produce at a scale to enable businesses all over the country to make the environment-friendly transition very suddenly. The government needs to prepare the market for this major transition. It would also be a great opportunity to create new jobs. A sustainable initiative based in Uttar Pradesh-based sustainable cutlery brand manufacturing by utilising tons of sugarcane waste is an example of such sustainable options. They have a 50% workforce of local women and they pay to double the minimum labour wage.
Outright bans without a comprehensive plan and poor enforcement have contributed to the failure of legislation in the past. The effect of the ban stays for a few days and as the media attention shifts away, authorities are no more interested in enforcing the law. There were no proper monitoring methods for the authorities for implementation. However, now Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has pointed out the problem and said that his ministry will set up control rooms to monitor the ban.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seized more than 31,000 kg of plastic and levied fines worth Rs. 1.4 crore in 2018. Even after that, reports showed that plastic plates, spoons, cups, and polythene bags came back on the market very soon. In an order of the NGT in 2021, it was found that there was a huge gap in the preparation and execution of action plans for the implementation of the PWM Rules.
Preparing local government and public mindset is an integral part of the phasing out of SUPs. It can’t be expected that an order is dictated and the next day everything will be at its place automatically. In metro cities, people are getting aware while making daily choices and practising waste segregation. But it remains a challenge to train the citizens of tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
In Muzaffarpur city of Bihar, the Centre for Science and Environment along with ITC Ltd initiated a decentralised solid waste management program with Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation (MMC) in 2017. Around 70 volunteers carried out a painstaking door-to-door awareness campaign in 87,000 households and MMC provided with two superior quality plastic bins (green for wet and blue for dry waste) to them.
Currently, only a few per cent of the citizen in Muzaffarpur are practising waste segregation at home despite having two bins. Only a few months of awareness campaigns can’t help in a long-term transition and behavioural change. Such cities need a long-running citizen awareness program for success in the fight against single-use plastics, and the local municipal bodies need to be trained in proper waste management practices. Most states don’t have a reliable waste management ecosystem, including segregation, collection, and recycling system.
Phasing out single-use plastic is a very daunting process and it requires a long-term vision, commitment and strategic planning. The government must learn from the mistakes in the past and carefully plan the transition into recyclables for the success of the ban.