This year’s theme ‘Planet vs Plastic’ couldn’t have been more appropriate. Plastic is a technological marvel that has delivered us a lot of good things including acting as a shield from elemental forces like heat, cold, or even harmful microbes, diseases, etc.
Its impermeable quality makes it a formidable ally for humans, in our quest for survival. But as many other technological tools, we have managed to make it into a problem. Today indiscriminate use and disposal of plastic has not just made our public living spaces unsightly, but it has also entered our fragile soil and marine ecosystem, thus creating serious health and environmental challenges for generations to come.
As microplastics they permeate our soil and natural water systems that end up polluting the food we produce and ultimately get inside us too, leading to all kinds of health complications, including fatal ones.
The same science that gave us plastic, today also offers very effective solutions for dealing with its undesirable impact on our lives in three ways -Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or the 3Rs.
Reduce
The Earth Day movement that started in 1970 is now seeking a 60 percent cut in global plastic production by 2040. We are producing around 380 million tonnes of plastic every year. We have produced more plastic in the past decade than in the entire 20th century, according to the Earth Day organisers. To this end, we have to keep finding alternative materials for plastics that can be recycled easily. For example, we are already seeing the growing popularity of plant-based cutleries, particularly in the fast-food business.
There are several other conventional as well as new and innovative alternatives to plastic like glass, stainless steel, jute, wood, paper, mushroom, bamboo, etc. While the supply side is not a big challenge, we have lot of work to do in terms of bringing about wider adoption of alternative materials and this has to start with creating better awareness among the consumers.
Reuse
Among the 3Rs, this is by far the easiest to implement. A little imagination is all it takes to find a second life for plastic materials we have already brought into our lives. From storage purposes to use in gardens to simple household decorative items, plastic products commonly found in homes can be easily reused in so many ways.
The best way to stay motivated on this path is to keep reminding ourselves of what we are saving the earth from and that even oceans are made of tiny drops. Social media platforms like YouTube etc are treasure troves of great ideas to reuse plastic waste.
Recycle
According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), only 9 percent of plastic waste is recycled. Globally, almost half of all the plastic waste we generate becomes landfills, the most serious side of this polymer challenge. On both counts, India is doing slightly better than the world average with recycling at 13 percent and landfill at 36 percent, according to OECD.
The segregation of plastic waste that some of us do at home is only the first step. There are some challenges here too. Recycling is done in five stages before it can be used to make new products – sorting, shredding, washing, melting, and pelletizing. For every stage, there are specific processes that must be adhered to strictly to ensure recycling is effective. For example, sorting is important because plastic products are made from different types of polymers, and mixing them will affect the end product that comes out of the pellets.
People who religiously recycle plastic waste at home must also know that unwashed plastic waste like food packaging or milk packets does not go into the recycling system and mostly end up in landfills.
If we take a broad view of our collective destiny and the road to it, we will also see how powerful our generation is. Technologically speaking we haven’t lived in better times. It would be a tragedy if our reluctance to deal with plastic effectively becomes a problem for the next 40 generations because that is how long it takes for plastic to disappear naturally.
(Shashi Kumar is co-founder and CEO, Akshayakalpa Organic.)