Kerala grapples with plastic waste

Time of India

3 days ago

Kochi: If Kerala produced 30,798 tonnes of black pepper — its mainstay of spice trade with Europe and the Arab world in olden days — the state generated a whopping 71,000 tonnes of plastic in the same period last year, more than double that of pepper production.
This comparative data of pepper production and plastic usage reveals how far Keralites have moved towards a use and throw culture, unmindful of discarding plastic waste that is being dumped in the state's verdant hills, water bodies and open spaces.
Even as cities like Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are grappling with the issue of managing plastic waste disposal in a scientific manner, the State pollution control board (PCB) data claim that the estimated plastic waste generation in Kerala has almost halved from 1.31 lakh tonnes in 2019-20 to 71,000 tonnes in 2023-24.
Experts are not convinced.
"Dumping of waste in public places and private compounds has decreased, but our plastic consumption went up. Haritha Karma Sena (HKS) members are doing a wonderful job in collecting plastic waste. The segregation of plastic waste collected from households and at material collection facilities is not proper. Hence, the generated plastic waste is not fully recycled. A large part of it is burned at cement kilns.
With online food delivery and mall culture, our plastic use has increased," said Jayakumar C, executive director of Thanal Trust, an NGO.
PCB officials say norms in waste segregation have changed and reflect in the reduction. "Plastic mixed with other waste used to be collected by local bodies and that resulted in higher quantity. Now HKS collects only segregated plastic waste and hence the dip in figures," said a PCB official.
PCB data shows Kerala generated 71,000 tonnes of plastic waste in 2023-24 and collected 68,682 tonnes. The generation in 2017-18 and 2020-21 was 44,482 tonnes and 1,20,063 tonnes, respectively.
To contain the use of plastic and pollution caused by it, the state govt introduced plastic waste management rules in 2016, with a ban on single-use plastic, segregation at source and provision for waste collection. Campaigns are run to reduce plastic use and switch to alternative products.
However, data shows no reduction in plastic use by the state's middle class-dominated population.
Microplastics have entered the food chain network and images of wildlife consuming plastic littered by people highlight that there is no going back.
"Plastic products contain a lot of compounds, including additives and the pollution caused by them is different. When plastic waste or microplastic enters soil, it becomes a layer on it and prevents percolation of water to earth.
It disrupts the growth of microorganisms in soil, affecting the whole ecology and food chain. When it comes to marine pollution, fish consume microplastic. Soil and water are basic components keeping ecological integrity.
When they are polluted, the whole food chain will be affected," said an environmental scientist with the state govt.
Experts say the pollution we now talk about was caused by the unbridled use of plastic and its littering decades ago.
The unrestricted use of plastic in Kerala started after 1990, when the country embraced globalisation.
"Despite the state govt's Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam campaign, single-use plastic is found abundantly in Kerala. Strict enforcement of law is the primary step. The 'polluter pays principle' must be imposed. A strict ban on all single-use plastics is another important step. As part of awareness and capacity-building programmes, make waste management a subject for all courses and encourage academic institutions to provide 40-50% of internships in waste management topics because a good percent of future career opportunities will be in the sector," said Tropical Institute of Ecological Science director Punnen Kurian Venkadathu.
The plastic waste people generate daily is not fully collected nor is there a comprehensive recycling or reusing system. Most of the local bodies hand over the plastic waste segregated by HKS to Clean Kerala Company Ltd under local self-govt department while some give it to private firms.
"Local bodies should have an assessment of the plastic waste generated within their limits based on the population there. Material collection facilities should be set up based on that.
If all plastic waste generated in each ward of a local body is collected and reaches MCF, the issue is solved. However, our local bodies have not reached that scale. We've to bring them to the complete mechanism system," said a Clean Kerala official.
Activists in waste management field opine that political education in the state needs to be redesigned to bring about a drastic change in reducing plastic waste generation.
"People still use plastic because of convenience and an attitude that lacks citizen responsibility and is indifferent to the environmental pollution caused by their actions. In the existing political education, where gender, equality and justice are talked about, politicians should talk about climate-resilient actions too," said activist Jagajeevan N.
"The young generation is sensitive towards ecology. They are using and promoting alternative products to plastic," he said.