NEWS – India’s Plastic Pollution: Key Findings

HIGHLIGHTS

Largest Plastic Polluter

• India has surpassed China as the world’s biggest plastic polluter, releasing 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.
• This waste load is enough to fill an area equivalent to 604 Taj Mahals.
• India generates three times more plastic waste than the next top polluters: Nigeria, Indonesia, China, and Pakistan.

Global Plastic Waste Inventory

• Researchers from the University of Leeds used artificial intelligence to create a global inventory of plastic waste, ranking India at the top.
• India accounts for one-fifth of the global plastic waste burden.

Waste Management Challenges

• India’s dumpsites outnumber sanitary landfills by 10:1, while China has made progress with waste incineration and controlled landfills.
• Official waste collection data in India likely overestimates coverage, as it does not account for rural areas or open burning.

Rural Waste Contribution

• Rural areas and villages in India are often excluded from official statistics, leading to underestimations of waste generation by a factor of 4 to 7.
• Of India’s total plastic waste emissions, 53% comes from uncollected waste from 255 million people, with the rest from open burning at dumpsites.

Global Perspective on Plastic Pollution

• The study estimates 52.1 million metric tonnes of plastic waste is discharged annually, with 57% burned and 43% left as debris.
• Plastic pollution is a global challenge, with littering being the largest source in the Global North, and uncollected waste dominating in the Global South.

Policy Implications

• The detailed inventory provides a baseline for global policymakers to craft interventions to reduce plastic pollution.
• India banned single-use plastics two years ago, yet pollution remains a significant challenge