Plastic Menace: Are EPR Guidelines Sufficient To Deal With It

Relevance: GS-3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

Key Phrases: Extended producer responsibility, low density polythene

Why in news?

Analysis:

India is third largest consumer of materials after China and USA. Economic survey estimates that India's demand for materials will double by 2030
Per capita consumption of plastic is projected to go up from 11 kg in 2015 to 20 kg in 2022-FICCI data,43 percent of that is single use plastic-US tops with 109kg
2019 report of center for international environment law suggests that by 2050, GHG emissions from plastic would reach 56GT ,15% of remaining carbon budget
No single definition for single use plastic-makes 30% of world plastic-polythene, styro foam
India’s per capita consumption of plastic is much lower than US and China but 10 thousand ton left uncollected every day

Marine life-micro plastics in intestines of deep dwelling ocean mammals-also affects productivity of primary producers in marine food pyramid
Single use plastics make up on average 50 percent of beach litter
Dioxin-byproduct of manufacturing process is believed to be passed on through breast milk to infants-burning of plastics releases this
‘Plasticrust’-rock formation-thin coating of plastic growing on rocks-disturbing food chain by polluting feed of mollusks
Arrests recharge of groundwater aquifers for its impervious nature
Disturbs soil microbe activity, also animals eat and choke

Extended producer responsibility; responsibility of street vendors-not to provide such carry bags
Department of industrial promotion to ensure all cement factories use plastic as fuel
Plastic waste management rules 2016-defines minimum thickness of plastic at 50 microns increasing cost
MP HC instructs state to ban single use plastic

PWM rule which fixed a deadline of 6 months for producers to arrange for recovery of waste in partnership with state urban development department has made little progress
Plastic is not marked with symbols (1 for pet,4 for low density) to facilitate recycling
CPCB said companies were marketing carrying bags as compostable without any certification
Found even in remote Nicobar Islands-plastic litter from many foreign origin countries

EPR requires the manufacturer of a product, or the party that introduces the product into the community, to take responsibility for its life cycle
An FMCG company should not only account for the costs of making, packing and distributing a packet of chips, but also for the collection and recycling/reuse of the packet
By failing to mention waste pickers or outlining mechanisms for their incorporation under EPR, the guidelines are retrogressive. Between 1.5 and 4 million waste pickers in India work without social security, health insurance, minimum wages or basic protective gear.
EPR guidelines are limited to plastic packaging. While a large part of plastics produced are single-use or throwaway plastic packaging, there are other multi-material plastic items like sanitary pads, slippers, and polyester

Government should redo the consultation process for the draft guidelines and involve informal workers.
The scope of plastics covered by the guidelines could be altered to exclude those plastics which are already efficiently recycled and to include other plastic and multi-material items.
End-of-life processing technologies should be closely evaluated, based not only on their health and environmental impacts, but also on the implications for continued production of low-quality and multi-layered plastics.
Plastic pact model currently active in UK, Australia-it is a pact which brings everyone together across the plastic value chain to transform the plastic packaging by redesign, innovation, reuse, collection-it can support Extended Producer Responsibility.
Recycling plastic into new products extends their life and provides substitute for virgin materials: Recovering materials from garbage should be a high priority.
Online retailers should be compelled to follow extended producer responsibility and take back the plastic waste from consumers: They may form waste cooperatives and employ informal waste pickers. Consumers will respond readily when incentivized.

Source: The Hindu