Editorial | Challenge of Plastic Pollution

One of the most important environmental challenges that we are currently dealing with is plastic. At a time when the plastic pollution is seeing a steep surge we may by 2025 anticipate the waste to triple across the board, including municipal solid waste, plastic waste, and car waste in our country. Plastic is recycled at a rate of less than one tenth. The massive amounts of plastic waste leakages call for a variety of strategies to manage plastic trash in the nation. Though used for varied purposes, there however is a big problem with plastic use. 40% of all plastic is thrown away after just one use, and it is often made from crude oil, gas, or coal. Many of these items, like plastic bags and food wrappers, only have a short shelf life but can linger in the environment for hundreds of years. A little bit more than 10,000 tonnes of plastic trash are not being collected every day. The largest plastics consumer is the packaging sector in India. According to a 2020 study on packaging in India, unsustainable packaging will cause the value of plastic materials to decrease by over 133 billion dollars over the following ten years. On top of that, when waste is not managed properly by burning it outside, we can even breathe plastic. Human exposure to plastic can affect hormones and have a negative impact on reproduction and birth. India launched a nationwide awareness campaign on Single Use Plastics on World Environment Day in June 2022. Several other initiatives like project REPLAN and a Mobile Application besides the provisions of Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2022. A resolution to design a future agreement that will make it legally binding for the signatories to address the complete life of plastics from manufacture to disposal, to halt plastic pollution, has been signed in 2022 by 124 parties to the United Nations Environment Assembly, including India. Still and all, collaboration between national and local government ministries is required for the creation, execution, and oversight of policies, as well as the involvement of business enterprises, non-governmental organisations, and volunteer organisations.