trash mountains

India consumed an estimated of 15.5 million tonnes of plastic between 2016 – 2017, a number which is expected to rise by around 5 million by the end of 2019/2020.

India’s plastic pollution is a growing concern. India consumed an estimate of 15.5 million tonnes of plastic between 2016 – 2017, a number which is expected to rise by around 5 million by the end of 2019/2020.

India is a developing nation, with higher salaries and more opportunities offered to the middle class by day, the amount of disposable income available for people to spend on online shopping and fast food is increasing rapidly. This monumental increase in deliveries, increases the amount of plastic used by every family by a great amount. In conjunction with a high population growth and urbanisation, economic development plays a very large role in the increase in the amount of plastic used in.  This is also replicated at a larger scale, where 1/4th of the plastic is used for packaging. 

India, however, is more prone to face the consequences due to the production of plastic.  Plastic often “leaks into the environment due to the limited availability of formal waste management systems.” The Ganges and the Indus rivers which originate in the western Himalayas and Tiber respectively, both flow through India and are 2 out the 10 rivers in the world which deposit 90% of the world’s plastics that reach the Oceans. 

The main reason for leakage is the lack of segregation of municipal solid waste at source. It is estimated that only about 0.033 MT out of 0.143 MT of waste generated daily is treated and disposed of in a proper manner. Even though the government is encouraging waste segregation at a household and commercial level through the ‘Clean India Mission’ it is important that stricter rules and fines are enforced in order to avoid pollution. 

Another, important, but obvious solution to the plastic pollution is India is the lack of opportunity to dispose plastic off in a sensible way. The lack of recallable bins, or even general trash disposable bins across the country has made solid waste management very difficult. In turn, people often end up dumping the trash on the roads which leads to hazards such as environmental degradation, water pollution, soil pollution and air pollution. Therefore, by placing more bins in the city’s and rural area people will have an incentive to carry the garbage and extra mile and not trash it whenever they like. 

The packing industry is very important in India. It provides jobs to over 4 million people and ensures things are delivered and kept in a safe and unharmed way. However, if the government and citizens do not come together to solve plastic pollution that India faces it will continue to threaten the  basic evolution of mankind