India opts to regulate rather than ban single-use plastics ahead of UN meeting

The Center for Science and the Environment says the world does not appear to have reached an agreement on how to deal with the threat of plastic waste.Image source: AFP

Week-long negotiations involving 192 countries are expected to begin in Toronto, Canada, next week to push for global progress in eliminating plastic pollution, with India favoring regulation rather than outright elimination of single-use plastics. (CSE) Analysis of public bargaining positions across countries.

In 2022, India will implement the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules (2021), banning 19 categories of single-use plastics. These items are defined as single-use items made of plastic but typically discarded after a single use and include plastic cups, spoons, ear plugs, decorative hot glue, packaging or packaging films used to cover candy boxes and cigarette boxes. , and plastic products. However, it does not include plastic bottles, even those smaller than 200ml, and multi-layer packaging boxes (such as milk cartons). In addition, even banned single-use plastic products are not uniformly enforced across the country, with a few stores still retailing these items.

The rationale for banning certain types of plastic and excluding others comes from the report of an expert committee on single-use plastics constituted by the Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals. According to a report by CSE, they rated different plastic products based on their practicality and environmental impact. According to the report, the current ban only targets about 11% of single-use plastics in India.

Of the nearly 17 topics that countries are expected to consider, one involves problematic and avoidable plastic products, including single-use plastics, which refers to parts of plastic that can harm the environment and human health.

Negotiating countries aim to implement global and national measures such as removing these products from the market, reducing production through alternative practices or non-plastic alternatives, and redesigning the products in question to meet standards for sustainable and safe product design .

CSE analysis said that as of Saturday, India had chosen language called the “zero draft” in the current version of the negotiation document, which guarantees regulation rather than banning the production, sale, import and export of problematic and avoidable products. Plastic Products. However, it has agreed to adopt science-based criteria for identifying such plastics.

For example, the European Union has proposed that all countries restrict the manufacture and sale of such plastics. The United States’ position is also closer to India’s and does not support a complete elimination of single-use plastics and avoidable plastics. It recommends that each country develop its own list of problematic and avoidable goods. Similar to the plastic issue, there are 16 other issues related to the production of polymers, most plastic waste management, trade, use of alternative plastics, etc. and India, like most countries, has a different stance on each.

A country’s position is affected by the centrality of plastics production in its economy, its recycling capabilities and its waste management capabilities.

The path to eliminating plastic pollution begins with the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) adopting a resolution to end plastic pollution by 2022. Plastic production and use in all countries.

CSE pointed out that after three rounds of extensive discussions and negotiations, the fourth round is about to begin in Canada, and the world does not seem to have reached an agreement on how to deal with the threat of plastic waste.

Our analysis shows that almost all oil, gas and plastics producing countries are not keen on reducing the production of primary/virgin plastics, and in fact a few of them are strongly pushing for the treaty to be all about the management of plastic waste rather than controlling production. It is clear that some member states are weakening the provisions of the draft in order to protect their economic interests; Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, project manager of CSE’s solid waste management department, said in a statement that public health is not their top priority.

Plastic production has doubled in the past 20 years. The United Nations says 99% of plastics are made from polymers derived from non-renewable hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas). Production, use, distribution and disposal are the main sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; in 2019, they accounted for approximately 3.4% of the global total. Plastic production alone accounts for 90% of these emissions.