Lok Sabha Question No. 82 (STARRED), answered on 2019-11-22
Subject: Recycling of Plastics
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, S. Muniswamy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION No. *82

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.11.2019

## Recycling of Plastics

## *82. SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI: SHRI S. MUNISWAMY:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the quantum of plastic waste being generated and recycled separately, in the country;
- (b) whether the Government has plan to implement any new scheme for recycling plastics and using them in building highways and other suitable areas/projects;
- (c) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  funds  allocated/proposed  to  be  allocated  to States for the said purpose, State-wise; and
- (d) the  steps  being  taken  or  proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  reduce  the quantum of plastics which goes untreated?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***

## Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 82 to  be  answered  on  Friday,  the  22 nd November,  2019  on  'Recycling  of  Plastics'  by Shrimati Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Shri S. Muniswamy

(a) With continued economic development, the demand for consumer goods is increasing.Among the various factors driving this growth, one of the most significant factor is increasing use of plastics by the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector. Due to its durability, strength, inert behaviour and low cost, plastic emerged as one of the most reliable packaging material for the industries. As an outcome, the increase in demand for plastic has indirectly resulted into the challenge of plastic waste management.

With  an  objective  to  ensure  the  sound  management  of  plastic  waste,  Ministry  has  already started  taking  initiatives,  for  effective  management  of  plastic  waste  in  the  country.  The Government has notified Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 for environmentally sound management of plastic waste and to prevent plastic pollution in the country. The generators of waste under the Rules have been mandated to take steps to minimize generation of plastic waste, not to litter plastic waste, ensure segregated storage of waste at source and handover the segregated waste to the local bodies or agencies authorised by them or registered waste pickers  or  registered  recyclers.  For  proper  regulation  and  sound  recycling  of  plastic, provisions have been made for registration of all plastic recyclers with respective State/UT Pollution  Control  Boards/Committees.Every  Urban  Local  body  has  been  made  responsible for setting up of infrastructure for collection, segregation and processing, including recycling and disposal of plastic waste. The local bodies have also been mandated to create awareness among all stakeholders about their respective responsibilities.

As per the study conducted by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 60 major cities of India, it has been estimated that around 4059 T/day of plastic waste is generated from these cities.  Extrapolating  this  plastic  waste  generation  data  from  60  major  cities  to  the  entire country, it is estimated that around 25,940 T/day of plastic waste is generated in India. There are 4773 registered plastic manufacturing / compostable manufacturing /Multi-Layer Plastic manufacturing / recycling units in the country. Approximately 15,384 Ton/day, which is 60% of  the  total  plastic  waste,  is  collected  and  recycled.  This  recycled  plastic  is  used  is manufacturing of several products. The remaining 10556 Ton/day of the plastic waste, which is  estimated to be approximately 40% of plastic waste generation, remains uncollected and littered in the environment.

(b) and (c) The  Government  has  no  new  scheme  or  fund  allocation  for  recycling  of plastic. However, to utilize the uncollected plastic waste, the Rules, 2016 prescribed the local bodies to encourage the use of plastic waste (preferably the plastic waste which cannot be further recycled) for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines, co-processing of  plastic  waste  in  cement  kilns,  conversion  of  plastic  waste  into  liquid  RDF  (Oil)  and disposal  of  plastic  waste  through  Plasma  Pyrolysis  Technology  (PPT).  Further,  the  Rules specify that recycling of plastic waste shall conform to the Indian Standard: IS 14534:1998.

(d) As pronounced by Hon'ble Prime Minister, the Ministry is working on the principle of  6R's  (Reduce,  Reuse,  Recycle,  Recover,  Redesign  and  Remanufacture.) to combat  with plastic  pollution.  In  this  perspective  and  to  promote  ecologically  sustainable  and  green alternatives of plastics, the Ministry has subsequently issued 'Standard Guidelines on Single Use Plastic' with suggested different set of actions for State/UT Government to minimize the usage of single use plastics.

The Ministry issued instructions to the offices coming under its administrative jurisdiction, Regional Offices of the Ministry, offices of Central Government and its departments, major PSUs,  corporates,  institutes  etc.  to  prohibit  single-use  plastic  products  including  water bottles, take away coffee cups, lunch wrapped in disposable plastic packaging, plastic bags, disposable food containers, plates and containers made of polystyrene foam, plastic straws etc. from their offices. Awareness creation exercise were undertaken in schools through EcoClubs operating in different States about ill effects of 'single use plastic'.

Recently, on the call of Hon'ble Prime Minister, a three-phase campaign 'Swachhta Hi Sewa' (SHS) was launched from 11th Sep, 2019, which ended on Diwali i.e. 27th October 2019. This  campaign  inter-alia  focused  on  awareness,  advocacy,  collection  and  safe  disposal  of littered plastic.

Under the campaign,all stakeholdersi.e. general public, students, industry, governments and local bodies came together and collectedwasteplastic from houses, streets, public places like parks,  beaches,  markets,  religious  and  tourist  places  etc.  Urban  Local  Bodies,  Gram Panchayats, Government organisations and others made arrangements to deposit the collected plastic waste at designated locations for recycling.Start-ups, technical bodies and corporates came forward with their plans to recycle the collected waste. Eventual goal of the campaign was  that  the  plastic  waste  is  not  dumped  on  land  or  into  water  but  is  recycled  in environmentally  sound  manner.  The  campaign  has  achieved  its  near-term  goal  of  creating awareness on the menace of plastic pollution. Emerging out of the above campaign, the local bodies and States have set up systems for collection and safe disposal of such waste.

*****