World Environment Day - Beat the Plastic Plague!

The?World Environment Day?is celebrated on June 5th to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment (https://www.worldenvironmentday.global).

This year's theme is "Beat Plastic Pollution" #BeatPlasticPollution and it is once again a reminder of the need to reduce our reliance on plastics and find more sustainable alternatives.

In March 2022, at the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly, all 193 UN Member States decided to end plastic pollution, with discussions on a binding legal agreement by 2024 underway.

In a report on turning off the tap on Plastic Pollution (https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/42277/Plastic_pollution.pdf?sequence=4), the following three shifts have been suggested – based on the familiar 3Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Shift 1:?Accelerate the market for reusable products

Shift 2:?Accelerate the market for plastics recycling

Shift 3:?Reorient and diversify the market for sustainable and safe plastic alternatives

In the context of India, a report by Marico Innovation Foundation and Praxis Global Alliance (https://www.maricoinnovationfoundation.org/innovation_in_plastics_the_possibilities_potential/#:~:text=Innovation%20in%20Plastics%3A%20The%20Possibilities%20%26%20Potential%20is%20a%20one%2D,are%20working%20towards%20solving%20it.) throws substantial light on the issues and the potential solutions for tackling the plastics problem in our country. The tone of seeking solutions, highlighting innovations and suggesting opportunities sets this “Playbook” up for a wonderful read.

It is critical to note that while India produces 3.4 million tonnes of plastic waste in a year, only 30% of it is recycled (which however appears to be a high estimate as worldwide recycling is about 9%). The rest ends up in landfills and almost every water body in our country – whether they be neighbourhood lakes/ponds, rivers, seas and eventually our oceans.?

As per a Niti Aayog report on Alternate Products and Technologies to Plastics and their Applications (https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2022-07/Plastics%20Alternative%20Study_Final_Report_compressed.pdf) between 1950-2015, the cumulative production of polymers, synthetic fibre and additives was 8300 million tons, of which?4600 million tons went straight to landfills?or were discarded, 700 million tons incinerated, and only 500 million tons was recycled. By 2050, as per current production and waste management trends, had it continued at the same rate, it would have generated 12,000 MT!

The immense harm done to wildlife has been documented time and again. The harm done to humans requires far more analysis and the cost of this externality needs to be calculated and highlighted widely.

As far as recycling is concerned, only about 30% of the waste is recycled. A majority of this 30% recycled plastic waste is shredded in India using the method of mechanical recycling. Other methods like thermal recycling (decomposition via heat) and chemical recycling (decomposition via chemicals) do not have a significant presence in the country, as they require additional infrastructure and investment.

In recent years, there has been a growing focus on the concept of "plastic circularity," which is the idea of designing plastic products in a way that they can be reused or recycled indefinitely. However, true plastic circularity continues to remain evasive. A Greenpeace report (https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/circular-claims-fall-flat-again/) on the subject makes for an interesting read.

Many plastics are not easily recyclable. For example, many types of plastic packaging are made from a mix of different materials, which makes them difficult to sort and recycle. The economics of plastic recycling are often not favourable. The cost of recycling plastic can be high, and the value of recycled plastic is often low. This means that there is often little incentive for businesses to recycle their plastic waste.

And finally, most plastics degrade over time and can be recycled only a limited number of times. This means that after a couple of recycling attempts, the plastic is eventually going to land up as trash.

Therefore, means of disposal of the final?plastic trash, that is after various rounds of recycling, needs a more detailed analysis and plan of action. Merely taking these to landfills is not a solution at all.

In this regard, our country needs a vigorous action plan for all plastic waste to be converted into energy / oil or into usable by-products in some form.?This is of course different from incineration or plain burning of plastic waste.?

There are a number of different technologies that can be used to generate energy from plastic waste, including pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal liquefaction.

Pyrolysis is a process that breaks down plastic waste into its basic components, such as oil, gas, and char. The oil can be used to generate heat or electricity, and the gas can be used to fuel vehicles. An interesting article on turning waste into green energy can be seen here??https://theconversation.com/how-we-can-turn-plastic-waste-into-green-energy-104072. While the article is a bit old, yet shows the pathways to pursue on this topic.

Gasification is a similar process, where it uses oxygen to convert the plastic waste into syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Syngas can be used to generate electricity or heat, or it can be converted into liquid fuels such as methane or methanol. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a process that uses high temperature and pressure to convert plastic waste into a liquid fuel. This process is still under development, but it has the potential to be a more efficient way to generate energy from plastic waste than pyrolysis or gasification.

The use of plastic waste to generate energy has a number of advantages. It can help to reduce plastic pollution, it can create jobs, and it can generate clean energy. However, there are also some challenges associated with this technology. For example, it can be expensive to set up and operate plastic-to-energy plants. Additionally, the quality of the output from these plants can vary depending on the type of plastic waste that is used.

Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of using plastic waste to generate energy are significant. This technology has the potential to make a major contribution to India's efforts to reduce plastic pollution and generate clean energy.

The development of new technologies to convert plastic waste into fuel is a promising step forward and on this World Environment Day, let us all redouble our efforts to ideate, innovate and implement new ways to rid ourselves of this Plastic Plague!