Published in Dwarka Express on 16.9.23

In the last issue we said that we do not have the right to blame plastic, since it appears that we cannot literally live without plastics. In our life before 70s, we had least of plastics in our day today life, but now it is difficult to imagine a life without plastics.

How plastics came to us?

Plastics are petroleum products and about 4% of the oil extracted in the world is only used for producing plastic and is being used in everyday life. In fact, the wide range of utilities and the ease at they could be produced have forced us to think of plastics as part of life. Plastic production begins by heating the hydrocarbons in the presence of a catalyst. The conversion of the crude oil ends in forming monomers like ethylene, propylene, butane and styrene. Such monomers are chemically bonded into polymers. Some most common types of polymers, or plastics are PVC, LDPE, HDPE and PET. Mineral water bottles and plastic glasses are the major items in our day today consumeristic style of living. When it entered the market in last few decades, we never anticipated the havoc that was in store.

Is Recycling plastics a solution?

Plastic industry always defends its side by saying that the plastics could be easily recycled. But reality shows that the plastics are not fully recycled as claimed. Moreover, the research shows that the plastics cannot be recycled more than 3 to 4 times. After that, it becomes trash simply. Even if the recycling industry does its part, in actual terms, the workers who handle the recycling work have to compromise their health, as the process is toxic, besides contaminating ground water.

Recycling or rejecting?

Complete Recycling appears impossible at least for now and more so, complete elimination of plastic from the planet Earth also appears difficult. It is therefore essential to find out ways to effectively reducing the usage of plastics. Finding alternatives may be a challenging job but not formidable. Already soft remedies are visible. Biodegradable, eco-friendly products are being advocated in almost all spheres of life. What the world needs is a wholistic and all-pervasive effort to address the issue.

Single Use Plastics

In July 2022, Prime Minister of India came up with a plan to ban single use plastic (SUP). But after a year, our apprehensions have come true. The SUPs are yet to go. About 26,000 tons of plastic waste is reportedly generated across India every day, of which more than 10,000 tons stay uncollected, leave alone recycling. Of course, there are punitive actions also in force, like, spot fine on waste generators Rs.500/- and spot fine on institutional waste generators Rs.5000/-. If we take stringent measures, the SUPs which dominate 50% of world plastics may go soon. But more effective actions must be envisaged with severe financial penalties and criminal punishments to phase out SUPs at least