Billions of tons of plastic has been produced since the 1950’s, almost 91 per cent, has not been recycled. Most of this plastic waste goes to landfills and pollutes the environment.
It is a proud moment as our nation has started to take action to create a system and set things right.
The Indian Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, was launched at the 16th annual sustainability summit of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), September 3rd, 2021 marked the launch of this pact. This pact has given rise to an initiative to bring together businesses across the Indian Plastic chain to move towards a circular plastic system.
Wondering how that is possible? Briefly, it means keeping the plastic in the economy but out of the environment.
India Plastics Pact : About
The Plastic Pact has been developed as a collaboration between WRAP, WWF India, and the CII.
It is an effective collaboration of businesses, governments and NGOs as a result of which plastics can be reduced, recycled and reused in their value chain.
Bringing all the leading businesses together to commit to a common goal is a productive way to lead changes on a national scale. This pact has the potential to transform the current plastic system and turn it into a circular plastic economy.
The intention of this making this pact can be summarized as follows –
- This system will create a large network of stakeholders at national and state level
- It will set into action various initiatives in managing the plastic system
- It will retain the valuable and recyclable materials in the economy
- It will generate jobs, investments & opportunities in the plastic system in India
The Plastics Pact of India has the target to build cooperation between the public and private sector. It is foreseen that this collaborative approach will lead to innovative solutions to the issue of accumulating plastics in our country.
India Plastics Pact: The major targets
India plans to achieve the following four targets by 2030 as per the Pact
- It wishes to define a list of unnecessary plastic packaging and the items for which measures can be taken to address them through redesigning and innovation
- Targets to recycle and reuse plastic packaging on a 100% scale
- At Least 50% plastic packaging to be effectively recycled
- On an average 25% recycled content across all plastic packaging must be present
Annually, India generates 9.47 million tonnes of plastic waste. Out of which 40% goes uncollected. A very large proportion of this plastic produced is for packaging and is mostly single-use. This only aggravates the overall plastic waste crisis that we are facing. As it becomes a direct pollutant to the environment.
The India Plastics Pact is a much needed spark to flame the revolution of plastic recycling and building a circular economy. It is notable that as many as 27 business houses and supporting organizations have willingly joined the Plastic Pact. The list includes major FMCG brands and various manufacturers.
We hope to see many more brands and manufacturers contribute to the plastic waste management in our nation.
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