DATE OF RELEASE: 11th January 2002
At a time when Indian cities and the rural countryside are reeling under a
plastic waste crisis, official import data indicates that India has been a
favoured dumping ground for plastic wastes, mostly from industrialized countries
like Canada, Denmark, Germany, UK, the Netherlands, Japan, France and the United
States. According to the Government of India import data, more than 59,000 tons
and 61,000 tons of plastic wastes have found their way into India in the years
1999 and 2000 respectively. (Source: Statistics of Foreign Trade of India. March
2000 and March 2001. DGFT, GoI).
( NOTE: Details of plastic waste imports by countries is available at the
following internet address
 http://delhibird.org/conservation/conserv_plastics.htm

The imports included wastes of highly toxic plastics such as PVC (poly vinyl
chloride), exported primarily from United States, Taiwan, the Netherlands,
Japan, France, UK and Belgium. The data was compiled by NoPE (No Plastics in the
Environment), a growing coalition of voluntary organizations from around the
country that advocates a reduction in the use of plastics rather than
indiscriminate disposal or recycling in toxic and unhealthy conditions which
endanger both public health and the worker's right to a clean environment.

The expose on plastic waste dumping in India takes on a serious tone in the
context of the soon-to-be concluded Ranganath Mishra Committee. The Ministry of
Environment and Forests , represented by Dr. Indrani Chandrasekharan, has barred
the participation of public interest groups, trade unions, ragpicker
associations and environmentalists in the committee, which is deliberating on
issues impacting on public health, worker safety and the environment.
Ironically, apart from government officials, the only other organisation allowed
consistent access to the Committee’s decision-making is the Indian Centre for
Plastics and Environment, an organization set up by the plastics industry and
funded by Reliance, India’s largest plastics manufacturer.

“The Ministry of Environment has clearly succumbed to the pressure of the
powerful plastics industry lobby. Asking the plastics industry to deal with the
problem of plastics is like asking a drug peddler to help set up de-addiction
centers,” NoPE observed.

>From the experience of a few groups allowed to make brief and limited
interventions before the committee, NoPE learns that the discussions in the
Committee are reported to be heading merely towards greatly enhanced public
relations efforts aimed at cleaning up the plastics industry’s image. Reports
also indicate that the Ministry of Environment and the ICPE are advocating the
incineration of plastics-a dangerous recommendation given that incinerators
pollute the environment with highly toxic substances like heavy metals, dioxins
and furans. The latter two are the most toxic chemicals known to humans and can
cause a variety of serious health problems including damage to the reproductive
system, the immune system and cancer.

Rather than seek ways to phase out the recycling of toxic plastics and promoting
safe recycling, the ICPE is allegedly promoting cosmetic changes to an otherwise
"business as usual" approach to the hazardous work conditions faced by workers
in the recycling units and ragpickers.

“In an easy swoop, the Ministry of Environment has done away with
transparency, public participation and the principle of Polluter Pays, all
upheld by the Supreme Court. It is ironical that the agency set up to protect
the environment is championing incineration – one of the most notorious sources
of pollution as well as uncontrolled consumption -while policies all over the
world are aimed at reducing waste” NoPE said.

NoPE has called for an immediate ban on the imports of plastic wastes, and
recommends a comprehensive mechanism for dealing with the plastics problems
based on:
a) Transparency and Public Participation: The Ranganath Mishra Committee should
end its closed-door negotiations with the polluter, namely the plastics
industry, and restart the policy discussions with broad-based public
participation.
b) The principle of Polluter Pays must be enforced- the plastics industry and
bulk plastics users like Pepsi, Coca Cola and Bisleri, should be held
responsible for the retrieval and safe processing or disposal of plastic wastes.
c) Plastics Use Reduction: Phase out the use of plastics from non-priority areas
such as carry bags, short-life packaging; restrict the use of plastics to select
priority areas
d) Revisit recycling: Recycling is not always green. Most plastics can only be
downcycled into lower-quality products that often have higher and more leachable
levels of toxic additives. In India, recycling facilities are operated by
migrant and unprotected workers including a large number of children. Recycling,
where possible, should be done in state-of-the-art facilities with full regard
given to worker and environmental safety.
e) Phase out toxic plastics like poly vinyl chloride (PVC) and the use of toxic
additives such as cancer-causing phthalates, and poisonous heavy metals in other
plastics.
Plastics are inherently unsustainable, coming as they do from non-renewable
petroleum sources. From cradle to grave, plastics are implicated in a variety of
problems, including environmental pollution and worker health hazards during
manufacture, processing and disposal; toxic exposure to consumers during use;
cattle and wildlife deaths due to ingestion of plastic wastes.
NoPE is a nationwide coalition aimed at holding the plastics industry
responsible for the damage caused by plastics. Members include DISHA
(Kolkata), Kalpvriksh (Pune), Mumbai Medwaste Action Group, Paryavaran Suraksha
Samiti (Vadodara and Gandhinagar), Thanal (Thiruvananthapuram), Samvada
(Bangalore), BGIA(Bhopal), Forum for a Better Hyderabad (Hyderabad), Samata
(Hyderabad and Vizag), Chintan (New Delhi), Wildlife Trust of India, Centre for
Environmental Education (CEE), Kriti (New Delhi), NOW (New Opportunities for
Women), Delhi Bird Club and Youth Reach (New Delhi)