Corporates must bring back collection and recycle for metal, glass bottles

A series of brand audits of waste was conducted by multiple organisations under the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) network at 250 sites spread across 15 cities in 18 Indian states in May 2018. 

An overall waste composition for all the 15 cities showed that branded plastic (26.8%) topped the list, followed by glass and metal (25.1) and unbranded plastic (15.6%), highlighting the extent of the crisis. 

The audit also called out local and international brands by industry giants. In Chennai, the glass and metal topped the list, followed by textiles and branded plastic. Kripa R, a researcher at Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), which conducted the audits across the city, said that this also showcases the need towards strengthening our existing recycling systems. 

“For instance, until recently, we had a system in place to collect metal and glass bottles but now, that is not happening. We are trying to find out where the gaps are. Through this exercise, we are not just talking about setting up new systems but also strengthening our existing systems,” said the researcher, adding that the idea behind collection of data was to portray the ground realities. 

The Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 initially had a clause to phase out non-recyclable multi-layered plastics by 2018 but an amendment in March 2018 reversed this decision – it’s business as usual for the corporate generators of this packaging material. 

The report released by the team in New Delhi on Monday recommended the implementation of a comprehensive Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy, which will “clearly identify accountability and responsibility all through the life of a product.” 

EPR can be executed through a variety of means – successfully implemented in other countries – such as take-back schemes, ‘pay-as-you-throw’ or waste users’ fees, advance disposal fees, deposit refund schemes and recycling and composting incentives. Activist and policy expert Dharmesh Shah slammed the central government’s move to enforce EPR as ‘weak’. 

“Single use plastic – disposable and multi-layered packaging and PET bottles – should be phased out and replaced with either better quality plastic or alternative sources. Food packaging, for instance, is tough to manage and recycle. Through EPR, the responsibility of disposal of the packaging material after use is with the corporates producing it. The Rules mention EPR but have no framework in place to implement it,” he said. 

Dharmesh added that industries are pushing for better waste management – putting the onus on city corporations and municipalities to invest more towards waste disposal, which is not a solution.