India Has Pledged To Eliminate All Single Use Plastic By 2022, Are You Up For The Challenge?

Setting an ambitious target, the Narendra Modi government has announced that the country will eliminate all single-use plastic items like carry bags, straws and water bottles among others) from the country by 2022.

Union environment minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, made the announcement on Tuesday on the occasion of World Environment Day.

"We make a solemn pledge that we will eliminate all single-use plastics from our country," he said.

Harsh Vardhan said this is in line with PM Modi's idea of "New India by 2022 which will be clean, poverty-free, corruption free, terrorism-free, casteism free and most of all, which will be a global superpower. This India of our dreams will also be single-use plastic free."

PTI

From his part, the minister also pledged to completely do away with single-use plastic from his life.

Speaking at the event Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed World Environment Day as the start of a global movement to defeat single-use plastics, highlighting India¡¯s rapid economic development can be done in a way that is sustainable and green.

¡°It is the duty of each one of us, to ensure that the quest for material prosperity does not compromise our environment. The choices that we make today, will define our collective future. The choices may not be easy. But through awareness, technology, and a genuine global partnership, I am sure we can make the right choices. Let us all join together to beat plastic pollution and make this planet a better place to live,¡± Modi said.

India is one of the biggest consumers of plastic and subsequently the generator of a large chunk of plastic waste globally.

BCCL

The annual average per capita consumption of plastic in India is at 11 kg as against global average of 28 kg.

An estimated over 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste is generated in India every day.

BCCL

According to an Ipsos Global Survey on World Environment Day, 87 percent Indians concerned about effects of Non-Recyclable Product Waste on Environment.

¡°Non-Recyclable waste is wreaking havoc on the environment and awareness building campaigns have sensitized Indians to its adverse impact," said Parijat Chakraborty, Executive Director, Ipsos Public Affairs.

According to the study, 48 percent Indians believe that government investment to improve recycling would be effective while 40 percent on the other hand feel that higher taxes on supermarkets and shops that use a lot of non-recyclable packaging would be effective.

PTI

Among the participants, 42 percent want non-recyclables to be taxed, to dissuade consumers from using them while 37 percent were of the opinion that a Public Information Campaign will build awareness and educate consumers on the consequences of their actions in the hope of changing behavior, and 35 percent Indians want fines for households that do not recycle enough.

Interestingly, 50 percent Indians are willing to reuse disposable items like plastic bags and plastic bottles while the other 50 percent will buy more products made from recycled materials.

AP

43 per cent say they will stop buying goods that have packaging that cannot be recycled and 39 per cent will stop going to supermarkets and shops which use a lot of packaging that cannot be recycled.

Just around 28 per cent Indians are willing to pay extra for goods without recyclable packaging and 24 per cent will pay more tax so that recycling facilities can be improved.

Another notable finding in the survey is that nearly 39 per cent Indians believe that onus to reduce non-recyclable product waste lies with all stakeholders including government, producers, consumers and sellers.

¡°It all boils down to collective efforts,¡± added Chakraborty.