The plastic market has grown by leaps and bounds considering the fact that the time Mr. Parkes created ‘Parkesine’ all these years ago. From automobiles to prosthetics, the usage of plastics is increasing with each passing day and it is effortless to see that these polymers are right here to remain.
Unfortunately, that last statement is also literal for our personal superior. The concern with plastics is that most of them are not biodegradable and are estimated to take numerous hundred years to decompose totally in the atmosphere. Plastic waste is a increasing concern all more than the world and India is no distinctive.
According to a report released by the Central Pollution Control Board for the 2018-2019 period, India generates 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste per year. To give that figure a superior viewpoint, that is the equivalent weight of roughly 126 Howrah Bridges, but in plastic trash!
Although each accountable citizen will go out of their way to throw their plastic waste into the recycling bin, the unfortunate truth is that it is producing small or no distinction to addressing the challenge. According to a variety of research, only a paltry 9 % of all plastic waste truly gets recycled. And the rest finds its way into landfills, oceans and some of it even tends to make its way into the meals we consume.
In India, plastic recycling is estimated to turn out to be a 53.72-billion-dollar market by the finish of 2023. However, as of today, the recycling method in the nation remains largely unorganized. At the ground level, rag pickers gather the plastic waste and then sell it to dealers who then proceed to sell it to recyclers. The segregation at each step is extremely rudimentary at ideal, and the waste that reaches the recyclers is of all forms, sizes, colours, and contamination levels. Improving this entire method to turn out to be more effective would involve such higher capital that it would make the entire recycling method economically unviable.
Then, there are these plastics that can not be recycled. Multi-layer plastics (MLP) are one such form that has tremendous applications as a packaging material in a myriad quantity of industries. MLPs consist of a layer of plastic coated onto other components such as foil or paper. These plastics can not be reclaimed very easily and what ever processes that do exist to recycle them are high priced and incredibly polluting to the atmosphere.
So how do we place an finish to this concern that is at the moment snowballing out of proportion? The most clear, but incredibly demanding resolution would be to circumvent the usage of plastics as considerably as is probable. In truth, the Government of India had declared that India would be totally free of single-use plastics by 2022. Although this deadline has considering the fact that been withdrawn, persons are starting to take cognizance of the truth that plastic waste is wreaking havoc with the planet and recycled paper and cloth bags are gaining momentum in India as a replacement for single-use plastic bags.
Mandatory segregation at supply is a different aspect that can be looked at. This would have to have the active participation of the citizens and the regional administration alike, which would go a extended way in the productive sorting of plastic waste just before it reaches the recyclers, as a result minimizing this burden on them by a massive margin.
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As for tackling the challenge of dealing with plastics that can not be recycled, a worth chain requires to be produced even for these forms to aid avert them from getting dumped into the atmosphere
Many innovators have stepped up to the fore, determined to locate options to the increasing concern of dealing with plastic waste. Firms are researching technologies that use plastic waste as a raw material for the resurfacing of roads. Some are repurposing unrecyclable plastic waste into sheets that would work as substitutes for plywood and roofing panels. Others are dabbling with extracting fuel from plastics via a method referred to as pyrolysis for use in automobiles. These efforts look promising but have miles to go just before they turn out to be sizeable sufficient to properly tackle the challenge of plastic waste head-on.
Although India is at the moment placed 94th with regard to per capita production of plastic waste, our appetite for this wonderfully handy – but dangerously resilient – material is increasing and it is time to nip it in the bud. Innovation, incentives, and sensible policies will go a extended way in ridding India of its plastic waste in an ecologically friendly and economically profitable manner.