Articles by Dr Umashankar S

Have you ever looked closely at the plastic packaging waste that you place in your recycling bin? Whether the bags, containers, bottles, wrappers, toys, packaging materials are branded or unbranded? What are the brand names? How are they classified? Do you know what the numbers on the packaging mean? Do all plastic waste actually get recycled? According to Sowmya Raghavan, Member, Solid Waste Management Focus Group, Bangalore Apartment Federation (BAF), “All recyclables are not recycled, and all items in the recycle bin are not recyclable." So have you ever thought about conducting an audit of your plastic waste? If yes,…

In Bengaluru, more than two-thirds of plastic waste comprise household products like personal care and food packaging, dominated by milk packaging (KMF, Dodla, Heritage, Milk Mist etc.), which contributes a big chunk of such waste. The use of plastic packaging material has increased over the years particularly with the growth of e-com companies, with Amazon leading the list. Among product companies, the leading brands which use a lot of plastic material to package their products include Unilever, Coca Cola, Reckitt Benckiser, ITC and Britannia. These are the findings from a plastic brand audit exercise, conducted in September 2021. Hasiru Dala…