Plastic Waste Management

Dr. A.B. Harapanahalli

DIRECTOR

Ministry of Environment & Forests Regional Office

Types of plasticsThere are about 50 different groups of plastics, with hundreds of different

varieties. American Society of Plastics Industry developed a marking code to help consumers identify and sort the main types of plastics.

PET- Polyethylene terephthalate - Fizzy drink bottles and oven-ready mea trays.

HDPE- High-density polyethylene - Bottles for milk and washing-up liquids.

PVC- Polyvinyl chloride - Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, mineral water and shampoo.

LDPE-- Low density polyethylene - Carrier bags and bin liners. PP-- Polypropylene - Margarine tubs, microwaveable meal trays. PS-- Polystyrene - Pots, fish trays, boxes and

cartons, cups, plastic cutlery, packaging for electronic

goods and toys.OTHERS--Any other plastics - that do not fall into above

categories. Eg- melamine, used in plastic plates and cups.

Plastic Wastes GenerationManufacturing Sector- almost fully

recycledPost Consumer wastes- is the problem areaApproximately 10 thousand TPD plastic

waste is generated i.e. 9% of the 1.2 Lacs TPD of MSW in the country

Categories of Plastic wastes

Thermo plastics- contains 80% of the plastic wastes generated in the country include PET, HDPE, LDPE, PVC, PS, PP, etc.

Thermo Set Plastics- constitute 20% of the plastic wastes-thermo set plastics are non recyclables and contains alkyd, epoxy, ester, melamine, formaldehyde, phenol formaldehyde, silicon, urea formaldehyde, polyurethane etc..

Sources of plastic wastesMunicipal sources that include residential,

markets, commercial establishments, hotels and hospitals.

Distribution and industry sector like food and chemical industries, packing films, etc.

Other sources include automotive wastes, agricultural wastes, industrial wastes construction debris etc.

Environmental Impact.

Manufacturing of plastic products consumers significant quantities of resources. (4% of worlds annual oil production as feed stock + 3% to 4% in manufacturing).

Requires other natural resources like water, land and produces

emissions, liquid wastes and solid wastes.

Littered plastics spoils beauty of the city, choke drains and make important public places filthy.

Risk on human health and environment due to use of toxic chemicals in plastic products.

Animals do feed on it from the garbage bins, leading to illness and possible death of the animals.

Continued….Because of the non-biodegradable and impervious nature of plastics, if disposed in the soil, they could arrest the recharging of ground water aquifers.

Garbage mixed with plastics interferes in waste processing facilities and may also cause problems in landfill operations.

Requires large area for disposal.

Garbage containing plastic, when burnt may cause air pollution by emitting polluting gases.

Recycling industries operating in non-conforming areas are posing unhygienic problems to the environment.

Plastic Waste Management in India

Management mainly aims at recycling.

Recycling technology have been classified into 4 general categories :

Primary recycling - involves processing of a waste /scrap into a product with characteristics similar to those of original product.

Secondary recycling - involves processing of waste/scrap plastics into materials that have characteristics different from those of original plastics product.

Tertiary recycling - involves the production of basic chemicals and fuels from plastics waste/scrap as part of the municipal waste stream or as a segregated waste.

Quaternary recycling - retrieves the energy content of waste/scrap plastics by burning/incineration. This process is not in use in India.

Steps involved in the Recycling process.

Selection : The recyclers/re processors have to select the waste/scrap which are suitable for recycling/reprocessing.

Segregation : The plastics waste shall be segregated as per the Codes 1-7 mentioned in the BIS guidelines (IS:14534:1938).

Processing : After selection and segregation of the pre-consumer waste (factory waste) shall be directly recycled. The post consumer waste (used plastic waste) shall be washed, shredded, agglomerated, extruded and granulated.

Quality of Recycled Products Quality of recycled products, questionable.  Recycled polybags are made from LDPE and HDPE.

 Source of plastic waste cannot be traced, likely that these may include bottles and packaging from pesticides etc.  Plastics are not sorted according to the contamination they have acquired during the first life span.  The recycled plastics are made into cheap products for storing food and beverages.

The contaminants remain due to physical penetration of the toxic molecules into the plastics and can easily leach out.

Environmental Aspects of Recycling.The major source of generation of effluents is the washing

and cleaning process.

The waste water has high pollution load in terms of BOD, COD and TSS depending on the material that was packed. This water needs treatment before proper disposal into the drains.

Although PE and PET are less toxic than PVC, the incomplete combustion of PE releases carbon monoxide.

The hygienic conditions of most reprocessing units in the informal sector are poor. Since toxic dyes and chemicals are used as additives during the recycling, the workers are constantly exposed to them and the exposure levels may be very high given the fact that most of the units are poorly ventilated.

Alternatives

Plastic waste disposal through Plasma Pyrolysis Technology (PPT)

Conversion of Plastic Waste into Liquid Fuel.

Biodegradable Plastics.

Stakeholders of the Plastic Waste Management System.A number of actors and institutions are engaged in collection, disposal

and recycling of plastic waste.

These actors can be broadly grouped into :

Formal and informal. In the formal actors the collaboration is driven by regulatory

mechanisms. It is guided by government policies and interventions.

The partnership between the formal and the informal sector is guided by profit and in some cases developmental concerns where the objective is to uplift the rag pickers.

Among the informal sector, the relationships are primarily commercial and driven by subsistence and profit (Supply of plastic wastes for price).

Voluntary (Cooperative and developmental relationship due to people perception).

Voluntary initiative of awareness generation by government and the industry.

Statutes relating to Plastic Waste Management in India

Plastic Waste Management Task Force.

Pressure to address the problem of plastic litter and the need to regulate the plastic waste management led to formation of the Plastic Waste Management Task Force in September 1996.

The objectives of the Plastic Waste Management Task Force were to :

Formulate strategy and prepare an action programme for managing plastic waste.

Propose incentive and penalties to check the growth of plastic packaging waste.

Prepare guidelines for the use of plastics in the country.

The Task Force came up with a 14 point action programme

Guidelines for Recycling of Plastics were formulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and the Bureau of Indian Standards.

The Guidelines for Plastics Packaging and Packaging Waste in India

The guideline aims at source reduction through :

Prevent the production of packaging waste.

Encourage reuse of packaging.

Recycling and other forms of recovering packaging waste thereby reducing the final disposal of such waste.

The guidelines call for establishing an original system of return, collection and recovery of plastic waste and, in order to encourage recycling, reuse and recovery.

Guidelines for Recycling of Plastics.

The guidelines for Recycling of Plastics prescribe standards for.

Segregation and processing of plastic waste and

Advise the manufacturer of plastic products to use marking on the finished products.

Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 (2nd September 1999)- Salient features

Ban on the use by vendors of carry bags and containers of recycled plastics for storing, carrying and packaging foodstuffs .

Carry bags and Containers used for packaging of foodstuff be made of virgin plastics and of natural shade or white i.e. no colourants used

Carry bags and Containers made from recycled plastics for use of purposes other than foodstuffs packing be manufactured using pigments and colourants as per IS:- 9833 / 1981

Minimum thickness of carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastics be not less than 20 microns

Salient features of the amendments in 2003 (17thJune 2003)

No person shall manufacture, distribute or sell carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastics below 8 x 12 inches {20 x 30 Cms} in size; and 50 bags of such will have minimum weight of 105 gms; and proportionate increase in weight to the increased size of the carry bags;

No vendor shall use carry bags made of virgin or recycled plastic below 8 x 12 inches {20 x 30 Cms} in size; and 50 bags of such will have minimum weight of 105 gms; and proportionate increase in weight to the increased size of the carry bags; for selling to any commodity;]

No vendor shall use carry bags made of recycled plastics for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging of foodstuffs;

Continued….No vendor shall use containers made of recycled plastics for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging of foodstuffs.

Every occupier manufacturing carry bags or containers shall apply in the particular form to the State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee for the grant of Registration and renewal of Registration;

The State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee shall issue and renew the Registration after ascertaining that the unit meets the norms prescribed under these rules and also possess a valid consent under Air & Water Act as per requirements of the State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee.

State specific initiatives

Few states in India have also instituted state laws to minimize plastic waste.

Himachal Pradesh was the first to formulate a state rule to protect the state from plastic waste menace which is followed by Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra etc.

Ecomark proposed Scheme on Labeling of Environment Friendly Products –Plastics.

Under the Ecomark scheme, the requirement for plastic products are, that material for packaging should be recyclable or biodegradable.

The scheme states that plastic packaging used for packaging food,pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and drinking water shall comply with relevant Indian standards and packaging of non-food, non-pharmaceutical and non-drinking applications shall be from recycled plastics, which shall, apart from fillers and reinforcing agents, be a minimum of 30% by weight of compatible plastic wastes.

In the case of PET as on date there is no comprehensive legislation in India.

THANKING YOU

Plastics- the main issue Plastics are very useful material; however-- Plastic wastes from packaging create problems in their disposal

and they are littered around. There are no organized effort of segregation and collection. Disposed plastics carry bags cause choking of drainage. Recycled plastic bags and containers used for dispensing

foodstuffs cause public health and hygiene concern. Units not equipped with environmentally sound techniques

mainly do recycling and reprocessing of plastics.

Action taken in the past In 1997, Ministry constituted a National Plastic Waste

Management Task Force under the chairmanship of Chairman, CPCB for formulating strategy to deal with plastic wastes. Following the Task Force report, Ministry brought out the Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules 1999. Also as per the recommendations of the task force to promote the up gradation of the Plastic Waste Management, Indian Center for Plastics and Environment (ICPE) registered under the Society Act was constituted in January 1999. Ministry is represented in the Governing Council of ICPE.

The Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules 1999, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, vide S.O 705 (E) dated 2nd September 1999 under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 for regulating and managing plastic bags contains

Action taken To formulate a strategy & action program for collection,

segregation, transportation and disposal of plastic wastes Ministry constituted a Committee in July 2001, under the Chairmanship of the Former Chief Justice of India and Member of Parliament, Justice Ranganath Misra. Chairman C.P.C.B was the Member Secretary. The Committee comprised members from Pollution Control Boards, Indian Center for Plastics in the Environment (ICPE), Shriram Institute and the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals Government of India. The committee gave its recommendations in 2002.

As a first step towards the implementation of the recommendations the Ministry has issued amendments to the ‘Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules 1999 vide S.O No. 698 (E) dated 17th June 2003. This rule has been issued essentially to regulate and restrict the size of the plastic carry bags to be used/manufactured (in addition to the already stipulated minimum thickness of 20 microns).