Covid undoing the battle against single-use plastic: Sunita Narain, Centre for Science and Environment
Summaries
” A lot of the restrictions that states have actually presented are really simple to impose. You could start by prohibiting plastic flatware– simple things like that. These can be imposed. And if there is a nationwide ban, it will be easier to impose. The federal government can do it.”
Sunita Narain, director general of the think tank Centre for Science and Environment, says India needs more and better information on plastic waste management if it wants to phase out single-use plastic and disposables. Covid-19, she tells ET in an interview, has actually dealt a big blow to these efforts. Modified excerpts:
What has been the impact of Covid-19 on India’s efforts to lower single-use plastic and disposables?
Information is poor but, anecdotally, Covid-19 is undoing all the work that we had actually done on the removal of single-use plastic.
You have actually said India’s plastic waste management is hobbled by the lack of precise data. We need to much better understand what this means since market uses it very frequently to say we do not have a plastic waste issue as it is all recycled.
A variety of states had actually introduced restrictions on using single-use plastic. However aren’t prohibits just as reliable as their enforcement?
A lot of the bans that states have actually introduced are really simple to enforce. You might begin by prohibiting plastic flatware– basic things like that. These can be implemented. And if there is a nationwide restriction, it will be easier to enforce. The government can do it.
The 2016 rules on phasing out multilayered plastic were altered in 2018 to certify it as non-recyclable or with no alternate use. What is the impact of that change?
That change was fatal. It was extremely damaging. Technically, MLP is recyclable since you can burn it. You might upcycle it. However in real life, is that feasible? Who is going to collect those wrappers you and I are throwing in the garbage? If chips packages can be utilized in other packaging all over the world, why can’t the very same companies do it in India? We are stating it has to be prohibited.
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