The Menace of Single-Use Plastic Packaging in India

On 2nd October 2019, India was all set to ban Single-use plastic. The idea received mixed views across the country but didn’t go ahead. The significant corporations across India rely on this Single-use plastic packaging to pack their products.
The Government has asked states to enforce already existing laws to curb the problem of single-use plastics.
Single-use plastics, as the name suggests, are disposable plastic with a very short life. You might take the plastic bag to bring groceries to the home, which should take you about 30–60 minutes, but the plastic bag will remain in the environment for thousands of years to come.
Single-use plastic is everywhere. The milk pouches we use, mineral water bottles we buy, the multi-layer packaging we throw the disposable plastics is everywhere around us.
Microplastics & its entry to Human Food Chain

The plastic breaks down into smaller chunks that pollute the land and the oceans.
Over time slowly & slowly, the plastic is entering the human food chain.
On land, the plastic is absorbed by the plants which we consume on a daily basis.
While inside oceans, the plastic disposables break down into Microplastics. The Microplastics gets covered with the algae and get consumed by the fishes as food. The plastic slowly reaches our system when we eat seafood.

I read an article in the August newspaper about Air India switching to biodegradable packaging. I took a flight from New Delhi to Hyderabad in October 2019. The breakfast served on the plane was full of single-use plastics.
In another classic example, I ordered the meal online, which cost me INR 80. To my surprise, there was not even one biodegradable disposable used in the packaging. It was all single-use plastics. The same company started using paper bags, butter paper a few days before the ban was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Many of the organizations don’t care to switch as they fail to see the environment aspect to it and don’t see the economic benefits of switching to biodegradable packaging.
India Plastic Pollution Facts

- India disposes of 33,600,43 ton plastic yearly, out of which 43% is the single-use plastics.
- People who eat seafood regularly ingest 11,000 pieces of Microplastics annually.

- Maharashtra produces the maximum 409630 Tons/annum of plastic waste, while Sikkim produces 5.66 Ton/annum during 2018–19.
- There are no plastic manufacturing units in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Lakshadweep & Sikkim.
- Lead and Cadmium pigments, commonly used in most of the plastics as additives are hazardous in nature and are known to leach out
What can we do to fight Plastic Pollution in India?
- Keep the reusable cloth or jute bag with you always.
- Say no to the single-use plastics at the restaurants and cafes.
- Carry your water bottle if you’re going out instead of buying the disposable plastic bottles.
- Carry your coffee mugs to the cafes and offices.
- Now on food delivery apps, you can say no to cutlery along with your order.
- Try going to those places which use reusable utensils or biodegradable disposables.
- Throw the plastic waste inside the bin instead of carelessly throwing it outside.
What can the plastic manufacturers do?
- If you’re the manufacturer of the multi-layer plastic packaging, then participate in the EPR schemes, which are going to be strengthened eventually.
- The manufacturers and the new entrepreneurs possess the will and desire to bring innovations to India. If you know about some Eco-Friendly packaging used abroad, then try to bring it here.
- If you own the single-use plastic manufacturing unit, then its the high time you start investing in acquiring the biodegradable packaging manufacturing equipment.
- Help your employees. As the plastic ban is implemented, many manufacturing units will shut down, and many employees will go jobless.
- The plastic manufacturers shouldn’t make investments in new machines, die’s, and tooling.
- The plastic manufacturing units can start producing the disposable made from the bioplastics since the same plastic manufacturing unit can be used to manufacture corn-based disposables with a few minor changes.
What should the Biodegradable Packaging Manufacturers do?
As of now, most of the manufacturers of biodegradable packaging are making limited quantities.
As the ban is efficiently implemented, the requirement of biodegradable packaging materials will increase. The companies should work towards automation and fast production. The demand for eco-friendly plastic alternatives are rising while the supply is constant.
Its not necessary the eco-friendly packaging will replace the plastic disposable just because of its biodegradable. The eco-friendly disposable will be appropriately accepted as the alternative if it’s readily available in the market, can be stored easily, and works well as the packaging material.
Government Initiatives
Extended Producer Responsibility
The EPR came out of the Stockholm convention. The program lays the responsibility on the manufacturers of plastic disposables to take responsibility until the end of life of the single-use plastics.
The producers of the single-use plastics don’t see themselves as responsible. Many of the large organizations behave responsibly in the rest of the world. Still, when it comes to India, the organizations behave differently since the companies can work around the system.
The companies won’t consider themselves as responsible until the laws are implemented strictly.
Indian Pollution Control Association (IPCA) executed India’s first joint EPR initiative for managing plastic waste with the WE CARE consortium partner PepsiCo, Nestle, Prefetti, DS, and Dabur and with the support of Central Pollution Control Board and East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The IPCA conducted training programs to make the rag pickers are made aware of the MLP. The Multi-layer packaging wasn’t collected earlier since it doesn’t bring any value to the rag pickers.
Refuse Derived Fuel — What is it?
Refuse derived fuel (RDF) is produced from domestic and business waste, which includes biodegradable material as well as plastics.
Within Municipal Solid Waste management, processing of several fractions that are combustible in nature but are not recyclable. It can be soiled paper, soiled cloth, contaminated plastics, multi-layer packaging materials, other packaging materials, pieces of leather, rubber, tyres, thermocol, wood, etc. has remained a challenge, and these fractions unwantedly end up at landfill sites.
These fractions can be processed and converted to refuse derived fuel (RDF), which carries significant calorific value. They can be utilized as an alternative fuel in various industries in line with the principle of waste to wealth.
Coal is the main fuel used for cement production in India. Over 30% of the coal used is imported. Fossil fuels and raw materials used by cement plants can be, in principle, replaced to a large extent by Alternative Fuel and Raw materials (AFR) such as RDF and biomass.
Plastic Roads
Bitumen is the liquid binder that holds asphalt together and is majorly used in the construction of roads. With the process designed by Prof Rajagopalan Vasudevan, Professor of Chemistry at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, the plastic waste used to construct roads. He’s also known as the Plastic Man of India, and his process reduces the amount of bitumen being used.
The Indian Government has made it mandatory for all road developers in the country to use waste plastic, along with bituminous mixes, for road construction.
What more should be done?
- The companies working towards the development of new biodegradable alternatives should be promoted.
- The plastics packaging material should be banned first if its biodegradable packaging alternative is available in the market.
- The Government should incentivize the use of biodegradable packaging by providing tax exemptions.
- The EPR schemes should be strengthened and implemented strictly.
- The laborers working in plastic manufacturing units should be resettled in some other industries.
About Gaurav Kapoor
Gaurav Kapoor is the Operations Manager at pirsq.com. He loves to write and share his experiences on paxlander.com.
