“Swachhata Hi Seva” Campaign Kicks Off – Public Waste Management Is Modi’s New Buzz Word
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of the “Swachh Bharat Diwas 2019,” in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Oct. 02. (PIB)
The celebrations of 150th birth anniversary of the peace apostle, Mahatma Gandhi, was marked by citizens all over India enthusiastically heeding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call for “Swachhata Hi Seva” that targets reducing the country’s plastic foot print with the elimination of Single Use Plastic (SUP).
Therefore, Oct. 2 was when everyone came out of homes to clear plastic waste littered in their neighborhoods, towns and cities and forward it for recycling, besides spreading awareness on stopping the use of the harmful man made product.
Prompted by ample research that conclusively prove that plastics are a bane to the living world as they are non-biodegradable poisons that leach and enter body systems, and have reached even the intestines of deep sea creatures, to cause an array of cancers and health hazards, Bangladesh was the first country to ban the use of single-use plastic bags and by now close to 27 countries have imposed taxes on their production, another 30 charge a consumer-fee on their use, and 27 more have legislated for banning or restricting SUP.
Following suit, the subject found prominence in Modi’s United Nations General Assembly address when he declared India’s resolve to end SUP by 2022, and announced the country’s progress and his special impetus to achieving this end.
The ongoing initial stage of ending SUP in India involves effective outlawing of six items of plastics which includes plastic bags less than 50 microns in thickness, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and certain types of sachets such as for gutka, paan masala and tobacco.
Along the River Ganges in the northern half of the country 46 cities, 20 state capitals and 118 towns have been ordered to close all manufacturing units of plastic bags along with use of the same.
Separately 21 states and union territories have implemented more strict norms for banning SUPs and in March the import of plastic waste that amounted to 218,747 tons were banned, with the grace period of six months ending Aug. 31.
On a yearly basis India uses about 14 million tons (mt) of plastic and 9.4 mt of plastic waste and suffers from lack of an organized system for management of plastic waste which means being prone to littering.
However, the move comes at a time when India is, as generally believed by economists, to be in the midst of a severe economic slowdown as consumer product firms, such as those of biscuits, chips, small eateries and food delivery platforms which use plastic in packaging for everything are in a quandary due to either non-availability of viable alternatives.
The business body, Confederation of Indian Industry has pointed out to the detrimental impact of the ban on SUPs to a plethora of sectors that exist on the manufacture and compulsory use of packaging products.
A demand for clarity on the definition of SUP has been sought by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry as also the Plastindia Foundation that represents all major institutions, industries and associations with plastics in India, has sought clarity from the government on the definition of SUP as its President, Jigish Doshi, informs that the plastic industry that directly employs 10 million workers and indirectly employs 100 million workers may end up losing 500,000 directly employed workers and 5 million indirectly employed workers that would result in loss of Rs.30-400 billion worth of revenue with this ban.
In case you blinked, estimates for plastic waste that is expected to be generated by 2050 is 12 billion tons, and of the present quantum of waste on earth only 12 percent is incinerated and 9 percent is recycled while 79 percent lies in landfills or dump-yards.
If China is the world leader in generation of packaging plastic material, the U.S. tops in terms of generation of per capita plastic packaging waste.
Though the appetite for forsaking easy to use multipurpose SUP that was once regarded as a revolutionary innovative product is little to begin with, the success of Swachh Bharat Mission that employed an all hands on approach and effected one of world’s largest behavioral change, one which catapulted India into a global leader in sanitation, is a brilliant example for Indian policymakers to draw upon now that India has resolutely embarked on this ambitious anti-pollution mission and become a world leader in the domain of public waste management.
Still one cannot afford to ignore the critics who raise multiple questions on efficacy of waste management, cheap and easily available alternatives to SUP, and center-led incentives and job creation as this fight to prevent climate change and pollution is not what humanity can afford to lose.
