downtoearth-subscribe

Plastic conundrum

  • 30/07/2001

Plastic conundrum More than a 100 million tonnes of plastic is produced world-wide each year. Though plastics have opened the way for a plethora of new inventions and devices it has also ended up clogging the drains and becoming a health hazard. Many countries, including India, are trying to increase the amount of plastic that is recylced. But commercial interests create hinderance for effective legislation to remove plastics from goods where they can threaten public health. Also there is a clear trend of shipping off the plastic waste of countries in the north to countries of the south

Two month"s plastic export to Asia
India is the fourth highest Asian importer of plastic waste
Country Number of Shipments Total (kg)
Hong Kong 586 17,137,118
Philippines 58 2,445200
Indonesia 50 2,248,443
India 11 998,046
Malaysia 7 254,935
China 6 95,746
Taiwan 6 156,453
Thailand 6 123,974
Korea 6 109,807
Japan 5 51,210
Sigapore 5 71,437
Total 747 23,692,369

Pellets of information on plastics in India

India yet does not have a uniform nation-wide
  law for ban on plastic polybags
Average Indian uses one kilogramme (kg) of
  plastics per year. The world annual average is 18
  kg per capita
India imported 7,841.8 metric tonnes of plastic
  waste from the US in the first half of 1994

Related Content