Understanding Plastic Ban In India And Worldwide: Part-I
As per United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), plastic pollution soared from two million tonnes in 1950, to 348 million tonnes in 2017, becoming a global industry valued at $522.6 billion.[1] It is expected to double in capacity, by 2040. Recently, during historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi on 02.03.2022 to end plastic pollution, Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Espen Barth Eide lamented, “Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic.”
This man-made situation is undeniably grave.
Tangible steps have been taken around the world to phase out the use of plastics. Countries after countries have realized that the problem will soon turn fatal. Bangladesh was the first country to realize the magnitude of the problem and immediately imposed ban on plastics in 2002, when the plastics were found to be the reasons for choking of drains and consequential drastic flooding in the country. There is specific checking of luggage for plastics in countries like Rwanda at the airport when the passenger arrives.
India has recently followed the league by systematically and methodically working on the same for the last one decade and more significantly since 2016. Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi while recently addressing the United Nations Conference on Desertification said, “I think the time has come for the world to say goodbye to single-use plastics…” Effective July 1, 2022, India imposed complete ban on identified items made of single-use plastic.
Plastic: The Frankenstein
Plastic is a long chain of synthetic polymers/carbon atoms arranged in repeating units. They are often much longer than those found in nature. This gives it the characteristic strength and flexibility along with light weight. This strength, however, is also the reason that the plastics don’t break down when left alone in the environment. Polymers are naturally present – cellulose being most common of all. Man started producing plastics firstly from these natural polymers and then moved to using carbon atoms from petroleum and other fossil fuels.
As per Directive (EU) 2019/904, ‘plastic’ means “a material consisting of a polymer to which additives or other substances may have been added, and which can function as a main structural component of final products, with the exception of natural polymers that have not been chemically modified.”
As per Rule 3(o) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, “plastic” means material which contains as an essential ingredient a high polymer such as polyethylene terephthalate, high density polyethylene, Vinyl, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene resins, multi-materials like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyphenylene oxide, polycarbonate, Polybutylene terephthalate.
Plastics have been categorized into seven types as per the method they would be recycled.[2] They are depicted in numbers inside the three arrow triangle recycling symbol. This number is a reference to what type of plastic the container is made of. The category can be checked from the bottom of the plastic container or carry bag. The recycling numbers aid recyclers in the sorting process. All plastics may look alike but they are not. They are made of different molecules or set of molecules which do not mix. Therefore, sorting the plastics before recycling is essential. The recycling code constitutes of the numbers 1 through 7 – PET-Polyethylene terephthalate (eg. Water bottles, dispensing containers, biscuit trays), HDPE-High density polyethylene (eg. Shampoo bottles, milk bottles, freezer bags, ice cream containers), V-Vinyl (PVC) (eg. Blister packaging, wire jacketing, siding, windows, piping), LDPE– Low density polyethylene (eg. Bags, trays, containers, food packaging film), PP-Polypropylene (eg. Potato chip bags, microwave dishes, ice cream tubs, bottle caps, single-use face masks), PS-Polystyrene and Other means all other resins and multi-materials like ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) (eg. Cutlery, plates, cups), PPO (Polyphenylene oxide), PC (Polycarbonate), PBT (Polybutylene terephalate) (eg. Three- and five-gallon water bottles, bullet-proof materials, sunglasses, DVDs, iPod and computer cases, signs and displays, certain food containers, nylon) etc.[3]
The most widely accepted plastics for recycling are number 1 and 2.
Who made Frankenstein?
John Wesley Hyatt made the first synthetic polymer by treating cellulose, derived from cotton fiber, with camphor. This was used as a substitute to ivory and was considered a blessing as it saved brutal elephant killings. Bakelite was the first fully synthetic plastic invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907. As per United Nations Environmental Programme, Polyethylene, the most commonly used plastic, was created by accident at a chemical plant in Northwich, England in 1933. In 1965, one-piece polyethylene shopping bag, designed by engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin, was patented by the Swedish company Celloplast.
It was not until the World War-II that the demand for plastics and for the item made out of it exponentially increased and finally steeply rose in 1970s.[4] Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics have been produced, and half of that in the past 15 years alone.[5] As per UNEP, worldwide, one million plastic bags were consumed every minute in 2011.
What is single use plastic?
Any plastic that is made from polymers of HDPE, LDPE, PET, PS, PP, EPS is single use plastic. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a non-profit organization founded in US in 1970 defines ‘single use plastic’ as “goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel–based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use—often, in mere minutes”.
As per Directive (EU) 2019/904 ‘single-use plastic product’ means “a product that is made wholly or partly from plastic and that is not conceived, designed or placed on the market to accomplish, within its life span, multiple trips or rotations by being returned to a producer for refill or re-used for the same purpose for which it was conceived.”
The term ‘single-use plastic’ was not defined under the 2016 rules when the rules were introduced. Vide Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2021, notified by the Ministry on 12.08.2021, a definition of ‘Single-use plastic commodity’ was introduced under sub-rule (va) of Rule 3. It means “a plastic item intended to be used once for the same purpose before being disposed of or recycled.”
Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging, plastic bags, and serviceware, such as bottles, stirrers, clamshells, wrappers, straws, and bags.
[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113142
[2] Rule 11(2) of 2016 Rules.
[3] For details and understanding please visit https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/
[4] https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/birth-ban-history-plastic-shopping-bag#:~:text=2002%20%E2%80%93%20Bangladesh%20is%20the%20first,drainage%20systems%20during%20disastrous%20flooding.
[5] https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101#what
