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ABSTRACT
In the case of plastic waste regulations, existing policy frameworks ignore that recycling in developing countries is largely undertaken within the unorganised sector. To add to this policies such as Single Use Plastic (SUP) bans disproportionately penalise unorganised sector recycling units and workers employed within them. This paper seeks to identify the global framework of waste minimisation and the lacunae in its implementation in the case of plastic waste in India. This will be based on analysis of national level regulations on plastic waste, court cases in the High Courts of India, and results of a primary field survey of unorganised sector plastic recycling units in Mumbai. By doing so, this paper seeks to explain the importance of recycling as a productive activity, and the need to incorporate concerns of workers and small-scale enterprise owners from the unorganised sector, in order to achieve a just transition to sustainable plastic waste management.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to acknowledge the comments and support made by Prof T Jayaraman towards this research. Needless to say, errors if any are only attributable to the author.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The unorganised sector in this paper is defined as per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in the Indian system of National Accounts. It includes “those enterprises where collection of data is not regulated under any legal provision and/or which do not maintain any regular accounts”. In the Indian system of National Accounts Statistics, unorganised or organised is used in accordance with collection of information and their use in statistics (NSSO Citation2000). This corresponds with the use of the informal sector and its characteristics defined by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) (ILO Citation2013).
2 The “Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-cycle Society” was passed in 2000 in Japan, the “Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act” was enacted by the German Parliament in 1996, and the “Law for the Promotion of the Circular Economy” was passed by the Chinese People’s Congress (CPC) in 2008 (taking effect in 2009).
3 This includes the “Strategy Paper on Resource Efficiency” (2017), the draft “Strategy on Aluminium Resource Efficiency” (2018), a draft policy on “resource efficiency and steel scarp recovery and slag use” (with the Ministry of Steel in 2019), a “strategy for Secondary Materials Management for promoting Resource Efficiency (RE) and Circular Economy (CE) in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sector” (with the Ministry of Electronics and IT and the Ministry of Communications and Information technology in 2020), and the “Strategy for Promoting Processing of Construction and Demolition (C&D) Waste and Utilisation of Recycled Products” (with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 2018).
4 This also refers to policies of State governments such as The Andhra Pradesh State Government’s “Industrial Policy and Industrial Parks” released in 2015; accessed here
https://www.apindustries.gov.in/APIndus/Data/GO/G.O%20for%20Industrial%20Development%20Policy%202015-2020.pdf The State Government of Telangana’s “Telangana State Industrial Policy and Industrial Parks” in 2014; accessed here http://tsiic.telangana.gov.in/pdf/Industrial-Framework-2014-Version-1.pdf ; and the State Government of Gujarat’s “Scheme for Industrial Parks in Gujarat Industrial Policy 2015”; accessed here http://re.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/gujarat%20industrial%20policy%202015.pdf
5 This pattern has been observed over the last three decades in the case of steel scrap, plastic and paper waste, and more recently e-waste (Porter Citation2002; van Buekering, Kuik, Oosterhius Citation2014).
6 It was first highlighted by marine biologists and environmentalists in the 1970s who documented the presence of plastic waste in the world’s oceans (Carpenter and Smith Jr Citation1972).
7 What has driven various national level policies and regulations on plastic waste across the world in recent times, is the visual documentation of marine plastic pollution, and in particular the presence of consumer based plastic products in marine ecosystems. This includes images of the great pacific garbage patch and marine animals affected by plastic pollution. The imagery of marine animals choking on plastic debris has evoked the strongest sentiments against the use of plastic across the world. Of the many images that have contributed to highlighting the impacts of plastic waste on marine life, the BBC documentary series Blue Planet 2, presented and narrated by David Attenborough, contributed significantly to public perception on plastic waste in marine ecosystems. For more see this article describing the impacts of the documentary- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/25/plastics-revolution-marine-life.
8 Some experts argue that even if SUPs defined in such a manner, they act as “gateway plastics” i.e., plastic regulations which will transform consumer mentality and usher in better plastic waste management (Schnurr et al. Citation2018). However, this argument does not address the view of other experts who point out that current SUP regulations amount to individualising the problem of plastic waste by shifting the burden of plastic waste management away from large industries that are the primary source of such plastic production (MacBride Citation2013) (Dauvergne Citation2018).
9 Cases under the jurisdiction of the High Courts of Andhra Pradesh, Madras, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kolkata, Orissa, Rajasthan, Srinagar, Bombay, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Lucknow, Patna, Sikkim, Jodhpur, Meghalaya, Allahabad, Chhattisgarh, Gauhati, Jammu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab-Haryana, Uttarakhand and Tripura were considered. Cases under the jurisdiction of the National Green Tribunal and all its regional benches (Central, Eastern, Western and Southern) were considered. List of key words included- plastic, polythene, regulation, ban, pollution, environment, and workers. Many cases from the search results did not substantively deal with regulations on plastic use, manufacturing, and waste disposal. Some cases included only a cursory reference to plastic production and use of certain plastic additives. The cases were filtered out.
10 The use of the term SUPs in Indian policy circles may be relatively new, but a partial or a complete ban on SUP items has been implemented by different State governments in India, since 1998. State level regulations have led the way on regulating polythene, plastic bags, and later SUP items.
11 It must be noted that in the Indian economy, the largest contributor to waste in India is organic and industrial waste, followed by municipal solid waste (Annepu Citation2012) (Doron and Jeffery Citation2018). Plastic waste is a small fraction of this total waste, and its size indicates the poor standards of plastic production in an economy that does not compare with the global average or even the production standards of sizeable countries such as the U.S.A. and China.
12 This is consistent with the 2019 estimate provided by the Minister of State for MoEFCC, that of the total waste generated in India 46.03% is recycled.
13 A broad category consisting of PVC, PET, hard plastics from consumer and industrial goods, as well as processed plastic waste materials from other industries, etc.
14 This includes the concerns raised by many plastic industry associations https://theprint.in/india/its-like-demonetisation-plastic-industry-ban-confusion-business-uncertainty/299285/ The former Minister for the Environment, Jairam Ramesh made a statement urging the Prime Minister to not opt for a ban, and went on to state that “The ban will only grab headlines, home and abroad, and mask the Modi regime's true environmental record” https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/jairam-ramesh-slams-proposed-ban-on-use-of-single-use-plastic/articleshow/71075991.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
15 Some parts of this sub-section refer to data analysis and commentaries previously published.
16 The official gazette notification arrived on the 23rd of August 2018 and can be accessed here http://mpcb.gov.in/images/pdf/plastic_27032018.pdf
17 These amendments incorporated the concerns of the PET Container Manufacturing Association, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), All India Plastic Manufacturers Association (AIPMA), the Maharashtra Plastic Manufacturers association, the Navi Mumbai Plastic Manufacturers Association (MPMA), manufacturers of bottled products (such as Coca Cola and Pepsi), retailers and e-commerce companies (such as Amazon and H&M), as well as some associations of food packaging retailers (such as the Flexible Packaging Industries and Trader Association).
18 Media reports and interviews conducted during this research indicate that larger establishments passed on the costs of alternative packaging materials (paper and cloth are more expensive than plastic packaging) to consumers. Additionally, some food delivery aggregators supplied these restaurants with alternative packaging materials. See media reports on the rise of logistical packaging verticals within food delivery aggregators such as such as Zomato, Swiggy, and UberEats, here https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/food-delivery-services-doing-their-bit/article24274381.ece , here https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-swiggy-ubereats-control-single-use-plastic/articleshow/71451827.cms and here https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/plastic-ban-may-leave-bitter-taste-for-food-delivery/articleshow/71344568.cms.