Things you should know after the plastic ban!

Maharashtra government finally enforced the ban after three months of its announcement. A similar approach has been seen in some cities of Gujarat like Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Vadodara to ban single-use plastics including water pouches,  plastic cutlery, plastic bags and cups.

Plastic bottles and bags are being banned

Environmentalists and activists are happy with the decision that this will help a lot to fight plastic pollution as single-use plastic is among the most discarded thing found in landfills. Not only landfills, but it is also responsible for the death of domestic as well as marine animals. 

But, not everyone seems to be happy with the ban. Especially, the plastic manufacturers and plastic associations say it would be responsible for job cuts and the plastic industry would lose millions of money due to it.  Many of them might change their businesses or move over other plastic businesses.

The ban is also affecting the restaurant business as well, especially the ones in food delivery as those plastics are now banned and can not be used for food packaging. This has led some restaurants to change their menus or some are using other options for packaging and have increased delivery charges. 

Plastic cutlery is widely used in events

Among all this, common people are the ones who are going to be affected both in good and bad ways. Use of cheap plastic cutlery and items had made it economical for event organisers to arrange a function or event with less money. Now, as the ban has been imposed, it is mandatory for everyone to look for options and they are not cheap, unlike plastics. 

Such DIY Home made bags can be a great option for plastic bags

To start with the ban, keep these little things on your mind.

1. If you are going out shopping or for grocery, remember to bring your own reusable cloth or jute bags.

2. As the ban has led to banning of water pouches, bring your own water bottle.

3. Food packaging is now costlier. If you are looking for the takeaway, bring your own containers for food. Start cooking more at home.

4. Remember to collect your waste plastics and give it away to the authorised recycler only.

5. Use plastic vending machines for bottles 

As the ban has been imposed, the alternatives for these plastics will have to come in use. As of now, they are of double price and I just hope the price will drop soon and we will have more reliable options for plastics as well. 

Keep recycling and save the earth.

Plastic Recycling: Challenges and Opportunities!

Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables.

On one hand, plastic recycling is much more needed in today's world where 70% of plastic is dumped and not getting recycled. The non-biodegradable plastic waste has become a headache to the environment as it got mixed with other waste and prevent or slow down their rate of degradation. This, in turn, makes the whole waste management a very tedious and lengthy process to deal with which leaves the authority the last option to dump all these plastic contaminated waste into the landfills.

Plastic bottle waste. Pic: PEXELS

New technologies are being invented to fight the plastic pollution. Government and the waste management industry is implementing these technologies to fight the plastic waste. But, the problem has its root so deep in our lives that even the world-class state-of-the-art technologies are not able to resolve the issue. It is because the problem is created by us, humans.

To understand the problem of plastic waste, first, we need to understand the origin of these waste. Being cheap, reliable and non-biodegradable, plastic has its application ranging from food containers to bio-medical equipment and aeroplane parts. Out of which, the most common use of plastic is in the packaging industry. From the wrapping of boxes to the single unit fruit packing, plastic is extensively used in food packaging and general packaging. 

Sorting of single colour bottle cap. Pic: PEXELS

Let's talk about the challenges first!

Segregation is the main problem waste management is facing right now. Even it is clearly mentioned in the PWM Rules, 2016 that it is waste generator's responsibility to segregate the waste before disposing of it. It is very unlikely to change the mindset of people to make them do segregation at their home before they throw it in the dustbin.

The waste management here really needs a revamp. The systems of the municipalities are not efficient for the amount of waste being generated daily. Rules are there to help the management by the court but without their actual implementation, they are now merely on the papers. Some places have adapted them and got really good results.

There is lack of technology and money which can solve the problem of land-filling. There is the need for new technologies to recover materials from waste and to ensure that 100% of the waste gets recycled. Efficient recycling and modern ways of waste management can make this happen.

All these problems have to lead to pretty bad waste management in the country but this also means the people who want to work in this sector can have good opportunities. New startups like The Banyan Nation, Waste Venture, SEWA are getting the attention for their unique efforts to make the waste management more efficient and environment-friendly.

Plastic waste recycling has huge opportunities in India, over 70% of PET bottles already getting recycled. This is mainly done by disorganised sector where the people are exploited and are made to work in the piles of waste picking the plastic waste out of it. An organised community with better resources can make this up to 95%.

Clean street Pic: PEXELS

Segregation at the source can be implemented by teaching people the benefits of the same and by giving monetary incentives as well as by motivating them. Segregation at the source can solve so many problems and we can actually achieve the goal of being zero waste country.

Government is also working hard on the #CleanIndiaMission and creating awareness among the youth about the importance of cleanliness. Taking one step further, segregation should also be taught and should be implemented rather than being just on the paper.

Chai in Glass cup instead of plastic cup. Pic: PEXELS

Around the world, single used plastics are getting banned and it is a good step on the way to the plastic-free globe. Although it will be little hard for people to adapt to the single-use plastics which comes very handy it would worth for the sack of environment.

What do you think of this whole plastic recycling and this year's environment day theme #BeatPlasticPollution? Let us know in the comments below!

Reasons behind the bad waste management in India

If you're living in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai or Ahmedabad, you'd be well aware of the fact that these cities are suffering from garbage and waste. The municipalities have tried to find solutions but these solutions have short lives.

The most common way to get rid of the waste is to dump it in landfills. And yes, you read it right! Everyone just wants to get rid of the waste. No one thinks beyond the garbage bin or bag. Throw it away in the municipal truck and forget about the waste!! Is this the right thing to do? Absolutely not! And people don't do this purposefully but these things have been like this for years.

The main issue with the waste treatment is lack of awareness among the waste generators. It includes individuals like me and you, offices, institutes, small shops, big malls, industries and pretty much everything. We, at home, generate food waste, household waste like paper, plastics etc. and then throw it into the dustbin. This is the very basic step where we do one of the biggest mistakes. Waste segregation should be done at this stage but most of us are not aware of waste segregation at all. This makes the waste treatment really hard.

You can read more about source segregation here

The non-segregated waste is then taken away by the municipal truck and goes to the primary recycling centre where most recyclable items like metal and plastic bottles etc. are collected out of waste and sent for recycling. Remaining waste is then sent to landfill where it is compressed and dumped to make huge mountains of garbage.

Pirana Dumping site, Ahmedabad

Due to improper segregation, recyclables in the lost their value and becomes the part of the mountain of the garbage. The similar thing happens with food waste when you throw it out along with other waste. Although food waste is degradable, when it gets mixed with plastic and other non-biodegradable waste, it prevents the degradation and it adds more waste to the dump site. If it would have been treated separately,  it could be degraded into manure.

Apart from public awareness, there is lack of infrastructure and funding for the waste management. While in most part of Europe and  America, countries are using waste-to-energy programs, most of the Indian cities are still relying on landfilling. More than half of the annually generated waste ends up in landfills here. The waste recycled is more because of the disorganised sector consist of rag-pickers who collect recyclables from waste and sell it.  They help a lot in segregation. 

Local ragpicker selling his recyclables.

The "Swachh Bharat mission" has started spreading awareness about cleanliness but it still lacks the awareness about waste. The major issue of segregation of waste has been included in the new waste management policy, 2016 but the implementation of the policy is very poor. People are finding difficulties following the rule as many municipalities have not the proper system to collect the segregated waste.  

Government of India's Swachh Bharat Mission

The government and other organisations around us are working on making our waste management system more efficient and eco-friendly. We can help for the same by segregating our waste, reducing the amount of waste generated and by choosing reusable things over use-and-throw stuff.