Context: Recently, a report published on closing the plastic circular Gap, suggested that there is a dire need to make large scale global interventions to manage plastic waste.
Background

• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has long been at the forefront of having an India Plastic Pact.
• The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

About Plastics Pacts

• The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives and transform the plastics packaging value chain for all formats and products.
• The Pacts bring together everyone from across the plastics value chain to implement practical solutions.

All Pacts unite behind four targets

• to eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation;
• to ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable;
• to increase the reuse, collection, and
• recycling of plastic packaging; and to increase recycled content in plastic packaging

India Plastics Pact

• The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September at the CII Annual Sustainability Summit.
• It can be expected to boost demand for recycled content, investments in recycling infrastructure, jobs in the waste sector, and beyond.
• The first Plastics Pact was launched in the U.K. in 2018.
• The India Plastics Pact is supported by WRAP (UK based NGO), which supports many Pacts globally.
• This association will ensure access to expertise and knowledge from different Pacts worldwide.

Key provisions of the pact

• Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• Integral to the Pact’s framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post-consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste.
• While the India Plastics Pact will be active in India, it will link globally with other Plastics Pacts.

How would this work?

• The Plastics Pact is a network of initiatives that bring together all key stakeholders at the national or regional level to implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastics.
• Each initiative is led by a local organization and unites governments, businesses, and citizens behind the common vision with a concrete set of ambitious local targets, for example in the following areas:

Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation

• Move from single-use to reuse where relevant
• Ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable
• Increase the reuse, collection, and recycling or composting of plastic packaging
• Increase recycled content in plastic packaging

Benefits offered

• Many Indian businesses and organizations have expressed an interest in signing up to the Pact.
• Deeper and long-lasting benefits will be felt across the supply chains of these businesses, most of which comprise MSMEs.
• The Pact will encourage the development and maturing of the entire plastics production and management ecosystem.
• Apart from benefits to society and the economy, delivering the targets will drive the circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution. They will lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Need for such pact

• Of the many sustainability challenges that impact societies, climate change and plastic waste have a special significance.
• A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.
• However, viewed from the angle of livelihoods, post-consumer segregation, collection and disposal of plastics make up about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.
• Apart from benefits to society and economy, delivering the targets will drive circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution. They will lead to significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Road Ahead

• For India, the solution must be multi-pronged, systemic, and large scale, to create a visible impact. The India Plastics Pact focuses on solutions and innovation.
• Members’ accountability is ensured through ambitious targets and annual data reporting. The Pact will develop a road map for guidance, form action groups composed of members, and initiate innovation projects.