India’s Plastic Waste Generation More Than Doubled In 5 Years: Centre

New Delhi: India’s plastic waste generation has more than doubled in the last five years with an average annual increase of 21.8 per cent, the Centre said on Monday. Responding to a query raised in the Lower House of Parliament, Minister of State for Environment Ashwini Choubey said that more than 34 lakh tons of plastic waste was generated in 2019-20 and 30.59 lakh tons in 2018-19. According to data shared by the minister, in the last five years, the quantity of plastic waste in the country has more than doubled, as the country produced 15.89 lakh tons of plastic waste in 2015-16.

Also Read: COVID-19 Pandemic Generated 8 Million Tonnes Of Plastic Waste: Study

The ministry said that annual data on the generation of solid waste, plastic waste, e-waste, construction and demolition (C&D) waste, bio-medical waste (BMW) and hazardous waste (HW) in the country is compiled by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Based on the studies undertaken by CPCB on hazardous waste and data compiled in respect of other wastes, the average annual increase observed in generation of hazardous waste is two per cent, in bio-medical waste (BMW) is 5.8 per cent, solid waste 0.1 per cent and plastic waste 21.8 per cent, the minister said in his written reply.

He said the data is collected from the respective State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committees (SPCBs/ PCCs) in line with the provisions contained in various rules notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

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Responding to another query on biomedical waste, the minister said India produced 677 tons of biomedical waste per day in 2020 while in 2019 it produced 619 tons BMW per day. In 2015, the BMW produced in India was 502 tons per day, the data showed.

In response to another question on the number of complaints received on unscientific or illegal disposal of biomedical waste across the country, the minister said that the CPCB had received a total of 23 public complaints between 2016 and 2021.

Of these, five complaints were from Rajasthan, four from Delhi, three from Tamil Nadu, two from Jharkhand and one complaint each from Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

Also Read: United Nations Plans To Drastically Expand Plastic Waste Management In India

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.