Recently, news broke about the upcoming launch of The India Plastics Pact, the first of its kind in Asia. Scheduled for September, the launch is a collaborative effort between the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). A report emphasizing the urgent need for large-scale global interventions to manage plastic waste was published recently. This report underscores the importance of such an initiative.
The Concept of Plastic Pacts
The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives aimed at transforming the plastics packaging value chain across all formats and products. The goal is to gather representatives from every level of the plastics value chain and devise practical solutions. Such Pacts unite behind four key objectives: the elimination of unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation, ensuring that all plastic packaging is recyclable or reusable, increasing the collection, reuse, and recycling of plastic packaging, and enhancing the amount of recycled content in plastic packaging. The U.K. launched the pioneering Plastics Pact in 2018.
About The India Plastics Pact
The India Plastics Pact is an ambitious, proactive initiative set to bring together businesses, governments, and NGOs to make time-bound commitments to reducing plastic usage in their respective value chains. Not limited to activity within India, this Pact will also connect with other global Plastics Pacts. It’s determined to create a road map, action groups comprising of members, and initiate innovation projects. To ensure accountability, it has established ambitious targets backed by annual data reporting. This Pact aligns with the circular economy principles of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy.
The Aim of The India Plastics Pact
The Pact intends to convert the existing linear plastics system into a circular one. This transformation would cut down on problematic plastic usage, retain valuable materials for other uses, and create investment opportunities and jobs within the plastics industry in India. It’s designed to encourage public-private collaborations which eliminate unnecessary plastics, bring innovation to packaging design, and capture the value of used plastics.
Why Plastic Pacts are Necessary: The Indian and Global Scenario
India generates 9.46 million tons of plastic waste every year, with 40% going uncollected and 43% is used for packaging, most of it being single-use. However, post-consumer segregation, collection, and disposal of plastics constitute about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.
Globally, mismanagement of over 7.7 billion metric tons of plastic waste is expected in the next 20 years which is equivalent to 16 times the weight of the human population. Plastic packaging is the largest application of plastic. By 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget as per a 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law.
Expected Outcomes of the Pact
The Pact is expected to stimulate demand for recycled content and investments in recycling infrastructure. It aims to create jobs in the waste sector and beyond. The Pact supports the government’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework and aims to improve solid waste management, a vision integral to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It also aims to involve the informal waste sector crucial for post-consumer segregation, collection, and processing of plastic waste. This process will lead to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The Circular Economy and Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Principles
The circular economy is a model that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. This model reduces waste to a minimum and keeps materials within the economy when a product reaches the end of its life. These principles are also upheld by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy which is based on three principles: Design out waste and pollution, Keep products and materials in use, and Regenerate natural systems.
