Plan to End Plastic Waste..!!

India has announced in the United Nations General Assembly that it would get rid of single-use plastic by 2022.

What the government plans to do?

1. Spread awareness about the menace of plastic and voluntarily reduction of its use through Swachhata Hi Seva campaign.

2. Create plastic-free zones.

3. Direct all states to enforce existing rules against the storage, manufacture and use of some single-use products, such as polythene bags.

Why Single-use Plastics be eliminated?

1. It is not bio-degradable and careless disposal pollutes the environment in irredeemable ways.

2. It is a major reason for choked drains and garbage heaps in Urban centers.

3. Threat to several species, especially marine life due to polymer ingestion.

4. Micro-particles are increasingly being detected in fish, which increased the risk of contaminant-caused illnesses.

How the action plan should be?

For any action plan against plastic pollution to be effective, efforts should be directed at

1. Collection and Disposal

a. Separation-at-source has seen only patchy success in India and plastic items rarely have separate channels for recycling.

b. Moral suasion to change attitudes towards plastic usage is needed.

c. Nudge towards plastic segregation, by assuring express trash clearance.

d. Well-sealed landfills inspired by burial crypts for spent nuclear fuel rods.

2. Reduction of Use

a. Institutional and corporate reduction of plastic use can be done through an incentive scheme that covers the financial cost of switching to eco-friendly material.

b. Sufficient time for Plastic Manufacturers to be provided to revise the business plans and move on to other opportunities.

c. As demand begins to decline, a timeline could be declared for the elimination of some categories of plastic use.