Page 26 - Plastics News May 2024

ENVIRONMENT NEWS

and prioritize reuse and donation over disposal. By promoting conscious consumerism and waste reduction, ViaGreen is
making significant impacts towards a cleaner and more sustainable Mumbai.

Source :- https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/nearly-20-000-000-kg-waste-collected-in-a-year-how-these-
mumbai-based-founders-are-tackling-the-citys-waste-problem-101714903886428.html

Waste Management Boosts Profit Margins by Rerouting and Replacing Trash Trucks

aste Management, North America's largest waste and recycling company, saw a notable increase in its profit
margin, which now stands at 29.7%, as a result of recent investments in side-loading trucks and vehicle-
routing technology. Utilizing software that functions as "Waze on steroids," the firm has streamlined its routes
for collecting industrial trash, leading to increased
productivity and decreased operational complexity.
Additionally, the introduction of side-loading trucks
has aided in simplifying operations because they only
need one driver and increase safety. with plans to re-
place 2,000 rear-loading trucks with side-loaders by
2025 in order to increase margins even more. Despite
of various obstacles including backlogs in the sup-
ply chain and community adjustments to new waste
disposal guidelines, the firm maintains optimism over
meeting its efficiency targets and being profitable.

Source https://www.wsj.com/articles/waste-manage-
ment-boosts-profit-margins-by-rerouting-and-replac-
ing-trash-trucks-877341c8

In 2024, India to be among top 4 contributors of microplastics released into waterbodies

ccording to 2024 survey report, India is in the top four countries, along with China, the US, and Japan, for
contributing the most microplastics pollution to the world's water bodies. In the recent report India is pre-
dicted to emit 391,879 tons of microplastics, raising frightening figures and environmental worries. These
microplastics, which are plastic particles that are no big-
ger than five millimetres, come from a variety of sources,
including inappropriate trash disposal, textile fibre shedding, and tire
abrasion. Furthermore, the build-up of chemical additives in micro-
plastics presents significant health hazards, such as cancer, inflam-
mation, and neurotoxicity, highlighting the urgent need for mitigating
actions.

India is actively involved in International initiatives such as the In-
tergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to combat plastic
pollution through scientific innovation and waste management pro-
grams, even if the country acknowledges the existence of microplas-
tics in its water bodies. Challenges still exist, though, as amount of
plastic trash generated worldwide rises faster than waste manage-
ment capacity can keep up with the demand for solutions that go beyond recycling.
Source:- https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/waste/in-2024-india-to-be-among-top-4-contributors-of-microplastics-re-
leased-into-waterbodies-95883

26 26 PL MA MAY 2024 PLASTICS NEWS 27
PLASTICS NEWSASTICS NEWS
MAY 2024Y 2024