World Environment Day 2023: How is India aligning with #BeatPlasticPollution

By Aayushi Sharma

World Environment Day, celebrated on 5th June every year, is a day set aside by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to promote environmental awareness and take appropriate action.

The theme of this year is #BeatPlasticPollution. 

History and Significance of this day

The United Nations conducted its first summit with the environment as a primary topic of discussion in Stockholm in 1972. It also acknowledged that everyone has the fundamental right to live in a healthy environment. The conference resulted in the historic foundation of the United Nations Environment Programme, a global initiative to preserve and protect the environment. Additionally, June 5 was formally declared a day dedicated to the environment at this ceremony. 

World Environment Day is a day set aside to commemorate and raise awareness of the ongoing harm caused by global warming and climate change. As a result of environmental ignorance, climate change has a number of negative effects, including the loss of life, property, biodiversity, and even resources. For more than 50 years, World Environment Day has given environmental campaigners a platform to educate the public about nature and encourage conservation efforts.

Theme 2023 : ‘Solutions to Plastic Pollution’ under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution

This theme serves as a reminder that what individuals do to reduce plastic pollution matters. The steps taken by each and every individual, corporations and governments to combat plastic pollution counts.  

“If we act now we can beat plastic pollution”, says the UN Secretary-General.

Here is how India is coming up with solutions to #BeatPlasticPollution

Plastic takes more than 400 years to degrade! These initiatives work to reduce plastic pollution in India:

• Some Initiative taken by the government

1. Ban on Single Use plastic

Single-use plastics or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are discarded  or recycled. From July, 2022, single use plastics were banned in India. 

The ban on specific single-use plastic items and plastic carry bags with a thickness less than 120 microns is being implemented by states and union territories on a regular basis. This ban affected fruit and vegetable vendors, shops, and e-commerce businesses. To further inform the public about the dangers of plastic waste and the value of minimizing and reusing plastic trash, public awareness programmes are also being run.

2. Use of Plastic in construction of Roads

To solve the issue of disposing of plastic trash in India’s metropolitan centers, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, has mandated that road developers use waste plastic together with bituminous mixes for road building.

The construction of bitumen roads within 50 km of the edges of any city with a population of more than 5 lakh people must now include the usage of waste plastic in addition to hot mixes.

The developer must obtain the ministry’s consent before building roads using solely bitumen in the absence of waste plastic.

3. Extended producer responsibility

The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, are putting into effect the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) regime, which states that it is the producers’, importers’, and brand owners’ responsibility to ensure processing of their plastic packaging waste through recycling, reusing, or end-of-life disposal.

The image shows a person sorts out bottle caps for recycling

4. Swachh Survekshan Awards

The largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey in the world, Swachh Survekshan, has been going on in India since 2016.

It has been crucial in encouraging towns and cities to compete in a positive way in order to improve the services they provide to inhabitants and make them cleaner.

Swachh Survekshan is an initiative that falls under the purview of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). Its main objective is to promote widespread citizen engagement and raise awareness among all facets of society about the value of cooperating to make towns and cities better places to live. 

In 2022, Madhya Pradesh emerged as the ‘cleanest state’ of India with more than 100 urban local bodies. Tripura topped among the states with less than 100 urban local bodies.

• At Individual Level

India’s per-capita emissions are amongst the lowest globally. It is one of the least wasteful economies. It has frequently received praise from stakeholders for its cooperation and initiatives to advance climate change mitigation and environmental sustainability; this has been done through policy measures, the facilitation of international dialogue, and the adoption of decisive actions, particularly after India emerged as a key player in shaping the Paris Agreement.

There are many initiatives taken from around the different parts of the country to encourage people to live a plastic free lifestyle and reduce plastic consumption. Avoid and reduce the usage of  plastic in daily lives including bamboo toothbrush, jute bags, steel bottles, paper and cardboard packaging, recycling and reusing products, etc. 

Indian culture has traditionally placed a high value on sustainability. Its ideals and philosophies have emphasized living sustainably. 

Millions of people’s livelihoods, capacity for food production, and social well-being can all be negatively impacted by plastic pollution, which can modify habitats and natural processes and reduce ecosystems’ capacity to adapt to climate change. 

References:

• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/10/what-india-can-teach-the-world-about-sustainability/
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment
• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/indian-ethos-of-sustainable-lifestyle-solution-to-climate-change-crisis-pm-modi-101660556057469.html
• https://indiacsr.in/extended-producer-responsibility-epr-in-india-2-32-million-tons-of-plastic-packaging-covered/
• https://www.google.com/search?q=Plastic+takes+more+than+400+years+to+degrade+nat&rlz=1C9BKJA_enIN1041IN1041&oq=Plastic+takes+more+than+400+years+to+degrade+nat&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i546l4.5824j0j9&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-
• https://www.unep.org/plastic-pollution