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India will host the official global World Environment day celebration tomorrow. But only celebration of the day will not help in ending plastic pollution. We have to stop plastics to enter our house. Though Plastics are a part of our daily lives, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they’re safe or responsible. Until quite recently, a minimum of 40 plastic carry bags would enter my house every single week as a result of grocery shopping alone. I would say a more honest assessment for some weeks would be about 70. The math is simple: On an average, at least 160 such bags in a month, and more than 2,000 in a year, which then served no other purpose than to occasionally function as garbage bags.
Anyone digging into the earth would find a sudden, explosive increase in a new kind of material—plastic. It is choking our drains, our rivers and our streets. The first shock has come from studies that show that plastic generated on land is filling up and polluting our oceans. And that fish is eating this plastic and we are then eating the same fish. A fascinating study by academics from the University of California and Santa Barbara and others has put together the world’s first material balance of plastics. It should really worry us. They estimate that the world has produced some 8.3 billion metric tonnes (bmt) of plastic from 1950 – when large-scale production began – to 2015. Of this, some 6.3 bmt or 76 per cent is plastic waste. Of the 6.3 bmt of plastic waste generated in the world, as little as 9 per cent has been recycled. Of the 9 per cent that is recycled, only 10 per cent has been recycled more than once. Then, 12 per cent of the waste has been incinerated. The rest, as much as 79 per cent, is in landfills or in the environment – oceans and water bodies.
Every day, Indian cities generate 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste–enough to fill 1,500 trucks, at 10 tonnes per truck–of which 9,000 tonnes are collected and processed/recycled, while the remaining 6,000 tonnes, or 600 truckloads, usually litter drains, streets or are dumped in landfills, according to a January 2015 assessment report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Plastic additives from landfills can cause considerable pollution problems by contaminating the surrounding soil, ground or surface waters, a 2015 study by the CPCB showed.
About 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year globally from ingesting plastic or by getting tangled in nylon fishing line, nets, six-pack plastic can holders, and plastic rope, according to estimates. Three of the world’s ten rivers which carry 90% of plastic to the world’s oceans are in India–the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, according to an October 2017 article in Environmental Science & Technology, a global journal.
Once underground, plastic will fossilize well, leaving a distinct signature. And there’s plenty of it. Growing mountains of non-biodegradable garbage – mainly plastic – is our nightmare. Globally too, the use of plastic is worrying. UN Environment shared that up to 5 trillion plastic bags are globally used every year. Of this, at least 13 million are disposed into the ocean at the rate of a full garbage truck every minute! the last 10 years, more plastic was produced than in the entire last century.
Until the 20th century, plastic was virtually non-existent. Since then, humans have created 5 billion tonnes. The palaeontologist Jan Zalasiewicz has calculated that if it were all converted into cling wrap, there would be enough to wrap the globe.
As we rush unconcerned towards what seems like self-wrought doom, is there nothing we can do? “Being the change you want to see”, of individual actions that can make a difference, by saying: “Look, obviously people feel compelled to do something individually, but I think it’s very important not to capitulate to the view that individuals can solve this problem. It’s a collective problem.
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats and countries need better waste management to cope with the sheer quantity of plastic rubbish that is fouling the waters and environment. Excess pollution has affected tourism, significantly impacting economies. Let’s end plastic pollution. We need more drastic solutions. The future has to be plastic-free.