The Challenge of Plastic is proving Stubborn

Plastic pollution is a real challenge and scientists have alarmed the world about the threat imposed by the extensive use of plastics in real life items

Much has been touted by the ruling establishment in India about its commitment to meet the challenge of plastic pollution. Prime Minister Modi in one of his tweets on the World Environment Day (WED), exhorted the people to ensure that ‘our future generation lives in a clean and green environment’. Plastic pollution was the theme for the WED. The experts working in this field have however been sceptical about the manner in which the GOI is heading.
Raghu from the Delhi Science Forum writes that today nearly 300 million tonnes of plastic is produced in the world which is equivalent to the weight of the entire human population on the globe. Micro plastics have been found in 83 percent of drinking water samples collected from all over the world and Indiaranks third behind the US and Lebanon in the regard. The situation is precarious. But the point is, whether just a token on the day of WED would serve any purpose or something more needs to be done.
‘We the people’ a show on the NDTV hosted for this week debated the plastics impact on humans. Plastic has a ubiquitous presence in our lives. No doubt it has revolutionised convenience. It has played a critical role in technological advancements from computers to replacement of heart valves. But it is now threatening plants, animals, marine and human life and hence interventions and regulations are required.

Where to start from
The point is where to start from? A complete ban on plastic may not be possible today. But starting from single use of plastics which comprises almost 40 percent of the total plastic produced can be easily done away with. But the reality in India is completely different from what Modi claims. The campaign and target on plastics reduction should not fall flat as it did for one of the flagship programmes-the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM).
There is a complete ban on coloured polythene bags in the country, but one can find them in abundance in almost every part of the country. Just in the backyard of the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi one can easily find such coloured bags from the grocery shops and other vendors. So where is the will to implement the decisions taken?
Himachal has a different story to tell
The state of Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas and particularly its capital city Shimla has shown the way in which an effective ban on all forms of polythene carry bags can be implemented. The journey to control polythene in Himachal Pradesh started from 1995 when a HP non-biodegradable garbage (control) act 1995 was formulated. This then led in 1999, to the imposition of a ban on traders, retailers and vendors in the state of HP from using coloured polythene carry bags manufactured from recycled plastic. However, partial ban could not deliver the desired results. In 2011 the state government completely banned the use of polythene in all its forms. Many of the single use plastic items like plastic cups, glasses, plates and spoons were covered under this order dated March 19, 2011.
The HP High Court was also pro-active and in one of its orders in the CWP titled Sanjeev Kumar vs Union of India and others, the court asked the government of HP to take more stringent measures. In accordance with this order, in June 2013, the government further imposed prohibition on the traders, retailers and vendors in the state of HP and this covered from ‘store, supply to sale’ of non-biodegradable plastic material. The enforcement of this order was more interesting than the order itself. Earlier only the officers had the punitive powers of compounding for using such plastic material. With the 2013 order, there were multiple agencies who were assigned the task of compounding users and vendors carrying plastic material which was covered under the above definition.
The three main agencies were the pollution control board, the local bodies and the police. The drive was massive in the initial days and in Shimla city when nearly 1162 cases were registered and a sum of Rs 9,48,950 was generated through this exercise. Both the state government and the city were serious about it. In the meantime, massive campaign was unleashed which was able to create the consciousness of dissuading people from
using plastic bags.
The complete ban existed not just on production in HP but also sale of such polythene bags within the state territory. Initially there were cases of polythene bags being smuggled into the state from the borders of Punjab and Haryana but soon a crackdown was unleashed which restricted their sale in the state. This has created another small-scale industry where hundreds of families especially in the urban poor households started manufacturing newspaper made packets which are now widely used in the state.

The challenge is large and still remains
Despite an effective ban and its implementation, the challenge is immense especially for the mountain state as plastic packed milk packets continue to litter around. Similarly, plastic packed noodles and similar stuff is rampant. New technologies have to be found so that the packaging industry is also motivated to find
alternative packaging.
Another major challenge happens to be from the packaged water and beverages bottles. It is interesting to note that when the city of Shimla and the state were going ahead to even ban the plastic bottles (2014-15) completely, a big lobby of the beverages industry in the country played a significant role to prevent that. Alternatives were suggested where a buy back scheme will work and will effectively consume the plastic bottles. But the reality is very grim. This has not happened. Thousands of bottles are found littered around.
According to an estimate one million water bottles are bought every minute in the world. This shows the urgent need and the priority of intervention. Why should one buy water in a bottle? The obvious answer is that one cannot trust the water flowing from the tap or the kiosk and hence bottled water is a safe way of drinking water. It is here where the engagement with the state is required. For the simple reason if one goes through the mandate of either the parastatals or the municipalities responsible for distribution of water in the cities and the villages, it is clearly mentioned that they are supposed to provide potable water.
If that is the mandate then why should people be forced either to buy bottled water or these modern day RO filters. This debate of reducing plastic and provision to provide potable water is also interconnected. There has to be a complete protocol on water so that the consumers are not forced to buy plastic packed water which is more problematic than the tap water.As mentioned micro plastics have been found significantly in water samples.
The wonder substance called plastic as one of the commentators on the NDTV show exclaimed has revolutionised life but now it threatens the basic evolution of mankind and hence must be targeted not just for oceans, marine life,animal and plant life but for human lives -above all!