War on Plastic

On August 20, the Parliament said it would ban the use of Plastic items in the complex. From October 2, the Indian Railways will ban single-use plastics. The government has already announced it plans to phase out disposable plastics by 2022. But it wasn’t easy for the anti-plastic movement to get it where it is today.

Since the year 1950, 8.3-9 Billion metric tonnes of plastic has been produced globally. About 44% of all plastic ever manufactured has been made since the year 2000. India generates 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste daily that’s the weight of about 9,000 Asian elephants. Yet, an average Indian consumes 11kg in a year (2014-15), below the global average of 28kg.

A brittle, early form of plastic, called Parkesine or celluloid is used to make household items. First iteration of modern plastic, Bakelite, is invented in the U.S. It is initially intended for use in electrical wiring, but its producers quickly realized the potential for use in thousands of products.

Plastic becomes indispensable during World War II and is used in almost everything at a time when most other resources are scarce. US plastic production, in particular, triples during the war. After the war, plastic products continue to spread, eventually replacing cotton, glass, and cardboard. Global soft drinks majors bring to replace their glass bottles with plastic.

In the 1990s, researchers find 60-80% of waste found in oceans is non-biodegradable plastic. Another oceanographer coins the term ‘microplastic’ to describe minuscule pieces of plastic that break off from larger objects. Interestingly, almost 80% of all plastic remains in the environment. 450 years to forever – that’s how long plastic endures in the environment. About 40% of the plastic produced is packaging that is used once and then discarded. A whopping 79% of all plastic produced since 1950 is still in the environment.