Page 30 - Plastics News September 2024
P. 30
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
India emerges as the largest plastic polluter
globally
2.8 million tons. Nearly two-thirds of global plas-
tic pollution stems from uncollected and poorly
disposed waste, with 15% of the world lacking
access to adequate waste collection services.
India’s waste management system remains a crit-
ical issue, with improper waste collection lead-
ing to an overwhelming accumulation of plastic
waste that infiltrates every part of the environ-
ment, from deep ocean trenches to the human
A body. The study highlighted the global scale of
new study by the University of Leeds,
the problem, comparing the annual global plastic
published in the journal Nature, has re-
vealed India as the largest contributor
Park and stacking it as high as 157 Empire State
to global plastic pollution, producing a stag- waste output to filling New York City’s Central
gering 9.3 million tons of plastic waste annually. Buildings. Without proper intervention, India's
India now tops the worldwide ranking, overtak- plastic waste crisis threatens to worsen, causing
ing populous nations like China, Nigeria, and greater environmental damage and health risks,
Indonesia. India urgently needs to upgrade its while other nations, such as China, demonstrate
infrastructure for garbage collection and man- that significant progress is possible with target-
agement, as evidenced by China's significant ed efforts.
advancement in waste management, which has Source:- HindustanTimes
resulted in a reduction in plastic waste output to
France's 2025 EPR Reform: A New Era for Packag-
ing Compliance
rance is set to introduce significant chang- France has maintained one of the most compre-
es to its Extended Producer Responsibil- hensive EPR systems globally, encompassing 12
Fity (EPR) regulations, with new compli- sectors, including packaging, electrical equip-
ance requirements starting from 2024. These ment, batteries, textiles, and more. Under the
revisions are aimed at streamlining processes, new law, paper products (excluding books) will
particularly by merging the EPR for printed pa- no longer require separate EPR registration, as
per products into the packaging category, as they will now fall under the packaging catego-
mandated by Decree No. 2023-305. Historically, ry. This change is set to take effect with each
30 32 PL September 2024
PLASTICS NEWSASTICS NEWS
September 2024
