India consumes an estimated 16.5 million tonnes, about 1.6 million truck full of plastic annually, of which 25-30% percent remains uncollected as per this June 2018 report. The plastic processing industry is estimated to grow to 22 million tonnes per year by 2020, as per another study. The sad part is that the current situation of disposing plastic is not easy to explain. One cannot dispose of plastic like other forms of garbage. Plastic is strong, flexible and durable, making it extremely useful and hard-to-break. As useful as it might be, it does create harm to the environment by entering the oceans every day and staying there forever, becoming toxic 'food' for marine life. Plastic Waste Crisis'; var randomNumber = Math.random(); var isIndia = (window.geoinfo && window.geoinfo.CountryCode === 'IN') && (window.location.href.indexOf('outsideindia') === -1 ); console.log(isIndia && randomNumber The consumption of plastic has been increasing by 10 percent year-on-year but the disposal methods of plastic have not evolved and that makes the situation murky for us. Multiple factors add to the problem - for instance, theres no segregation at the waste source, many amongst us still use one bin for all kinds of waste. Lack of awareness about segregation leads to a bigger problem. Plastic makes up about eight percent of total solid waste in India, according to the government and this plastic comes from the use of single-use plastic such as bags, cutlery and straws alone. It is estimated that 80% of marine litter comes from land and this hotchpotch ends up in landfills. However, it should be considered that plastic itself is not that bad, but the way people dispense it, that creates a negative environmental impact. We all need to work towards changing this.

Simple Habits Need To Change

The problem is irresponsible human behavior in disposing of plastic. If recycled, plastic can be made to form recycled polyester which in turn is made to produce a number of things like shoes, T-shirts, bags, etc. thereby causing less strain on natural resources, then plastic has value. Every individual can contribute by making small changes in their consumption and dumping patterns. To begin with, lets follow these simple, basic rules:

Be The Change You Want To See

We all know how we have polluted our surroundings by neglecting the way we use and dispose of plastic. To improve the quality of living, we will have to go back to the basics we had all learned in school:

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Simple and effective- Best ways to dispose of plastic! - Times of India