- Recycling is the process of converting some waste materials into new products.
- Recycling can help reduce consumption of raw materials and energy usage.
- India’s recycling industry faces several challenges such as inefficient waste segregation at the source and contamination of recyclables.
India’s plastic waste generation is estimated at nearly 3.5 million tonnes annually. Municipal authorities and state governments implement collection and recycling programmes, sometimes in collaboration with NGOs and private sector partners.
However, an April 2023 report revealed that less than 10% of plastic waste generated in 2019 was successfully recycled, with majority ending up in landfills. Not everything can be recycled, especially materials that have already undergone the process, meaning that all waste eventually goes to landfills. However, streamlining recycling processes can reduce the overwhelming amount of waste that needs to be dealt with.
Hundreds of private companies also operate facilities that process large volumes of recyclables. Their technology aids in efficiently sorting and processing materials such as lithium batteries, metals, electronic waste, grey water, and glass.
The informal waste management sector in India, much like other high population density countries, relies on several stakeholders and practices, including recycling. In cities like Mumbai, a vital part of recycling is carried out by informal waste pickers who collect, sort, and sell recyclable materials such as cardboard and paper, to local traders or recycling units. In India, at least four million informal waste pickers collect these materials from bins, households, streets and landfill sites.
What is recycling?
Recycling is the process of converting some waste materials into new products to help reduce consumption of raw materials and energy usage. The process of recycling begins at the source with segregating waste before disposal into categories such as plastics, paper, glass, and metals from non-recyclable waste. These materials are then collected and sorted by municipal authorities or private waste management companies in urban areas.
Recyclables are then transported to recycling units where they undergo further sorting, cleaning, and processing. Depending on the material, they are shredded, melted, or broken down into raw forms that can be used to manufacture new products. For example, plastic bottles that are ready for recycling are shredded into flakes which are then melted and moulded into new products.
Upcycling is the process of creatively transforming by-products or waste materials into useful products without breaking them down.
However, upcycling poses challenges too. It is often labour-intensive, with no checks on exposure to potentially toxic materials. Upcycling can also involve the integration of several different kinds of materials, posing a further challenge to recycle and manage waste. While the concept may offer a new life to certain categories of waste, it does not address the root of the problem – over-consumption.
Why is recycling important?
Recycling is not the primary solution to concerns about waste management, but it plays a crucial role in densely populated areas where land for waste disposal is limited or over-utilised.
Recycling utilises less energy than manufacturing products using raw materials, potentially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. It also reduces the extraction of raw materials such as wood, ores, crude oil, cellulose and other fibres to obtain metals, paper, and plastics.
In India, where resource scarcity can be a concern, recycling helps extend the life of valuable materials. It can also reduce costs and dependency on imports by providing secondary materials that are useful in industrial practices – further opening up economic avenues to fulfil this demand domestically.
Rapid development and increasing consumption owing to India’s growing middle class have nudged India among the top ten municipal solid waste generators in the world with an estimated 62 million metric tons of waste being generated annually, according to a report by The Energy and Resources Institute.
How does Indian law enable recycling?
India has a comprehensive legal framework for managing solid waste. Key rules governing solid waste management in India include the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 (modified as the new Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016) and the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy-based strategy that parks the responsibility for the end-of-life consequences of products with their producers, marking it as a cornerstone of several waste management rules in India, including those for plastic waste,oil, andelectronic waste.
In India, EPR mandates that producers, importers, and brand owners take responsibility for their products throughout their lifecycle, including collection, recycling, and safe disposal of post-consumer waste. This pushes for more effective manufacturing mechanisms to reduce the generation of non-recyclables or non-biodegradable waste.
How can conscious consumerism help?
While the onus is on corporates and producers to develop better processes and reduce overproduction, consumers also play a significant role through conscious and responsible choices. Choosing alternatives to single-use plastics such as cloth bags, reusable steel containers, and refusing disposable cutlery and straws can reduce the amount of waste going into landfills.
Following the three Rs – reduce, reuse, and recycle – while ensuring proper segregation of recyclable materials and proper disposal at home can contribute significantly too. It is important to note that small plastic strips (from cutting milk packets, cartons, etc.) are difficult to segregate and recycle due to their small size, and must remain attached to the packets. Plastic caps, while highly recyclable, often fall through the cracks of the recycling chain also due to their size. Consumers are advised to leave them attached to the bottles during disposal. Plastics containing food need to be washed before disposal as any contaminant renders them unfit for recycling.
Some key practices can be followed at home to prepare materials for recycling. Washing, cleaning, and drying packaging materials before disposal ensures all food particles (contaminants) are removed. Ensuring lids and caps stay on containers reduces the chances of small plastics getting lost. Separating mixed materials (foil from plastic, plastic film from paper etc.) further increases the accuracy of segregation and thus, recyclability of the material.
A similar approach can be adapted for cardboard (cartons and boxes), paper, and glass (bottles and jars). A conversation with the municipal waste collectors can help shed light on proper segregation, and what materials they collect separately.
Many countries offer a plastic deposit/buyback scheme, encouraging consumers to be more responsible with disposal through incentives. For example, Germany’s Pfand system has all eligible bottles and containers marked. Depositing these bottles can bring in anywhere between eight to 25 cents per piece. Notably, several Indian states have been pushing for plastic bans and buyback schemes for milk packets and vegetable packaging bags.
What are the challenges to recycling?
Recycling in India faces complex challenges across the entire waste management chain. The sector is largely informal and unregulated, with informal waste pickers being exposed to serious health and safety risks, owing to a severe lack of equipment and resources such as gloves, footwear or even access to drinking water or toilets.
The lack of adequate infrastructure and logistics for systematic waste collection, transportation, and segregation at source results in mixed waste streams, making it difficult to recover recyclable materials effectively.
Proper waste segregation at the source is not always done appropriately – food waste, non-recyclable plastics, and other mixed contaminants reduce the quality and value of recyclables. Many consumers lack knowledge about which materials are recyclable or how to prepare them for recycling, resulting in further inefficiencies in the recycling chain.
Furthermore, a shortage of modern recycling facilities for diverse types of waste materials leaves a lot of potentially recyclable materials unprocessed, especially complex packaging such as Tetra Pak containers that require special facilities.
Recycling is sometimes touted as a comprehensive solution to the world’s waste woes. The success of recycling largely depends on the nature, quality, and quantity of materials involved. Some materials cannot be recycled repeatedly, ultimately still ending up in landfills. Understanding what can and cannot be recycled can help consumers make informed choices.
While strides are being made to improve waste management in India, multi-faceted challenges persist in the effective management of various types of solid waste. Strengthening policy enforcement mechanisms, enhancing public participation, and investing in infrastructure are crucial steps to improve solid waste management practices across the country.
Awareness drives targeted at consumer behaviour, encouraging alternatives, robust EPR, and collective public responsibility for the environment could change the waste trajectory of the world’s most populous country.
Banner image: A person carrying empty tins for recycling. Image by Wen-Yan King via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
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