Plastic has been in use for about 120 years, initially invented in 1862 to replace elephant ivory and tortoise shells. The first synthetic plastic, made from cellulose nitrate, was a commercial success. Despite its usefulness, there is a dire need to restrict unnecessary plastic use.

Certain types of plastic need to be eliminated altogether. Polyethylene bags, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, and polystyrene food containers are among the worst offenders. One million plastic bottles are sold worldwide every minute, while 500 billion single-use plastic bags are used every year, and this number is projected to increase. After a single use, many of these bottles and bags end up in our oceans, contributing to pollution.

Source segregation and reuse are effective methods to tackle the growing plastic waste issue. Single-use plastics (SUP) are hard to dispose of and decompose slowly into microplastics, contaminating water, soil, and air. The plastic problem is exacerbated by lifestyle changes, throwaway culture, affordability, online shopping, and food apps. While governments encourage source segregation, there is little implementation and not much awareness among residents.

Chennai’s plastic waste problem

The city generates about 6,100 metric tonnes of waste every day, which is projected to increase further due to the growing population and lifestyle changes. According to the Tamil Nadu government’s database on solid waste management (2016), the per capita waste generation is 0.7kg/day; this means a family of four generate about 2.8kg of waste daily. Almost 60% of this waste is wet waste and 40% is dry and rejected waste. This waste, if not segregated at the source, ends up burdening landfills.

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Despite several initiatives by the government, segregation at source remains a challenge. For example, among 100 citizens, only four segregate waste and hand it over to sanitary workers. The conservancy workers blame the citizens and the citizens blame the government. How do we solve this problem?

The most efficient solution is source segregation. Stricter monitoring measures to ensure source segregation are necessary for effective waste management. This could be achieved by involving local celebrities, schools, educational institutions and motivational speakers to talk about the importance of source segregation. If Indore can achieve it, why not Chennai? We all need to work together for a cleaner and greener Chennai.

Read more: Future of our water: A look at the Draft Liquid Waste Management Rules

Striving to change attitudes

That is what I had in mind when I started my segregation journey. The plight of our cities led me to minimise single-use plastic (SUP) for my family and me. When I step out and go to any area in Chennai, I see huge piles of trash, most of which is SUP. Our lakes, rivers, parks, oceans, wetlands, temples, schools, and public places are overflowing with SUP. It’s hard to turn a blind eye. So, I carry reusable items everywhere I go.

However, I face several hardships in doing so. Stores like Grand Sweets and Chital Bandhu refuse to sell their products in reusable boxes, prioritising their store logo and business. The situation is the same in mall restaurants, where they refuse to serve us if we use our cutlery. This needs to change to encourage citizens to switch to reusable items, instead of punishing them for being eco-conscious. We are running out of space for trash; while the garbage mountains grow bigger every day. Big retailers need to come forward to solve the problem. We need to shift from a linear economy to a circular one in all sectors of business.

What I am doing to raise SUP awareness

Though we are aware of the bad effects of SUP, we are not ready to give up the convenience it provides. However, this convenience comes at a high cost, and I try to raise awareness about this issue by talking to grocery, vegetable, and fruit vendors. I educate them about the harmful effects of SUP and ask them to curb its use. I also actively share messages relating to plastic use through social media, including WhatsApp groups.

Although the attitude towards change is slow, I remain hopeful. For example, our society’s vegetable vendor, after our repeated discussions about single-use plastic (SUP), minimised his use of plastic bags. He did this after a Rotary Club member put up a poster encouraging the use of cloth bags. I promptly shared this in our community WhatsApp group, along with an image. The vendor mentioned that the number of people using reusable bags had increased since then.

At-home segregation: What I do

Segregating plastic waste at home is the first and easiest step in plastic waste management. Plastic waste at my home is generally of two types:

• Type 1: SUPs from grocery stores. I clean these bags, store them for reuse, to buy items like rice, lentils, peanuts, sugar, poha, sabudana, coffee powder, tamarind, and red chillies from local grocery stores.
• Type 2: Milk pouches. I wash these thoroughly and store them separately. After a month I hand them over for plastic recycling.

Despite being mindful of avoiding SUPs, I still accumulate them and store them in a separate bin, waiting for a plastic collection drive. Storing SUPs and waiting for collection is a significant challenge for apartment residents, which discourages many from segregating plastic waste. Unsegregated waste is often disposed of randomly and frequently burned, leading to air pollution. Concerned citizens like me urge the government to streamline plastic waste collection, rather than putting the onus of waste management entirely on citizens.

What can citizens do?

• Carry reusable bags when stepping out. Some easy solutions include having reusable bags handy in laptop bags, school bags and also in vehicles.
• While on a vacation carry reusable cutlery and water bottles. Often there are high levels of SUPs at train stations owing to food packaging, plastic cutlery, water bottles and more.
• When buying flowers for deities, carry your own bag, and ensure not to throw the used flowers knotted in SUP bags. Instead, use old or homemade newspaper bags.
• Learn to say NO to bags offered by stores, be it plastic or paper bags. Carry your own reusable bag.
• Try reusing plastic packaging that comes with cereals, whole wheat and other groceries. We can reuse these plastic bags to purchase rice, lentils, and dried beans at any local grocery store.
• Certain items like pickles, jam and ketchup are available in glass bottles or jars; consider buying them instead of plastic products.
• Milk pouches are recyclable; rinse them with water and collect them separately. Do not discard wet waste in milk packets.
• Create awareness among friends and the community about SUP and its harmful effects on the environment.

What can the state do?

Governments need to create streamlined systems for disposal. For example, milk pouches can be recycled into new products like trampolines and irrigation pipes. However, due to the absence of effective recycling initiatives, the majority are discarded into landfills and only a small fraction is picked up by waste pickers for recycling. This leads to ballooning plastic waste pollution in India.

Except for piecemeal projects like the milk bag recycling project in Mumbai or Akshayakalpa’s Give Back Your Milk Pack initiative, none of the big dairy product firms like Amul, Aavin and Mother Dairy have major recycling programmes. We need interaction between the milk supply chain, the consumers and the municipal waste management. The government could even partner with private players and come up with a “milk pouch recycle app” (similar to food delivery apps) to address this problem. 

Read more: Packaging waste: Why brands and consumers must act together to address the issue

Negotiations to end plastic use have been on since 2017. The fourth meeting of the UN’s Plastics Treaty to tackle plastic pollution was held on April 23–26, 2024. Due to the high SUP dependence in the country, India opted to “regulate” SUP and not “ban or reduce” SUP.  The SUP regulation is only on paper due to lax rules and regulations in India. A citizen’s movement to save waterbodies, soil, air and our future from SUP is necessary. In addition, we need to reduce our at-home dependence on SUPs. Only then it will be possible to bring a change in the minds of business owners, policymakers and governments.

Also read:

• How can Micro Composting Centres in Chennai be improved?
• Why a waste-to-energy plant is not the answer to Chennai’s garbage problems