Why curbing plastic use is need of the hour?
New
Delhi,
Aug
26:
Curbing
the
alarming
rise
in
plastic
pollution
is
need
of
the
hour.
Plastic
has
invaded
our
lives
to
such
an
extent
that
it
is
now
directly
impacting
human
health.
The
production
of
plastic
has
outpaced
almost
every
other
material
in
the
last
3-4
decades.
The
ever
increasing
use
of
plastics,
is
posing
a
serious
threat
to
marine
life
and
the
environment.
Plastic is a menace mainly because it takes hundreds of years for plastic to decompose. To the keep the environment clean, the only way is to recycle plastic waste. With almost every other object we use daily lives made of plastics, it is next to impossible to totally do away with its use, but what we can do is to reduce its use.
Humans
eat
and
breathe
in
tens
of
thousands
of
microplastic
particles
every
year,
according
to
a
new
study
which
has
raised
fresh
questions
over
how
plastic
waste
could
directly
impact
our
health.
The
study
found
that
an
adult
male
could
expect
to
ingest
up
to
52,000
microplastic
particles
each
year.
Taking
into
account
the
pollution
we
breathe
in,
that
figure
rose
to
121,000
particles
--
equivalent
to
over
320
particles
every
day.
[This city in UP is more polluted than Gurugram!]
India's first attempt at tackling the menace of plastic waste came in 2011 when the government notified the Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011. The policy sought to disincentivise the use of poly bags by setting up a pricing mechanism for them and also to establish rules for recycling by local authorities.
Not only humans, plastic poses threat to even animals
The Rules were replaced with a stronger Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. The new rules gave emphasis on a complete ban on plastics below 50 microns, phasing out use of multi-layered packaging and introducing extended producer responsibility (EPR) for producers, importers and brand owners to ensure environmentally sound management of plastic products until the end of their lives.
A rickshaw puller carries empty plastic bottles to a recycling centre
In 2018, the Environment Ministry in a new notification amended the rules of plastic waste management, and suggested the phasing-out of multi-layered plastics (MLP), the shiny plastic material which is used to package chips, biscuit and ready-to-eat food products. MLPs are non-recyclable, non-energy recoverable, and have no alternative uses, and are hence a critical threat to the ecosystem.
[World Environment Day 2019: Time to move beyond quotes, FB posts on conserving nature, and ACT]
A rickshaw puller carrying empty plastic bottles to a recycling centre
In 2018, the Environment Ministry in a new notification amended the rules of plastic waste management, and suggested the phasing-out of multi-layered plastics (MLP), the shiny plastic material which is used to package chips, biscuit and ready-to-eat food products. MLPs are non-recyclable, non-energy recoverable, and have no alternative uses, and are hence a critical threat to the ecosystem.
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A view of used plastic tumblers seen strewn around Ramlila Maidan
About
1
million
plastic
bags
are
used
every
minute,
and
a
single
plastic
bag
can
take
1,000
years
to
degrade.
Bottled
water
produces
1.5
million
tons
of
plastic
waste
per
year,
and
these
bottles
require
47
millions
gallons
of
oil
to
produce,
according
to
Food
&
Water
Watch.
Beaches littered with plastic
In his 'Mann ki Baat address yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for launching a "mass movement" to tackle plastic pollution in the country. He pitched a movement against single-use plastic from October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Taking a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call to eliminate single-use plastic, the Indian Railways has decided to ban the usage of plastics below 50 microns, in its premises and trains, effective from October 2.