Bruna Alves
Research lead covering environment and sustainability
Plastic waste in India - statistics & facts
India has a bad reputation when it comes to plastic waste. Despite having a per capita generation below the global average, the South Asian country accounts for the largest share of mismanaged plastic waste worldwide, at a whopping 21 percent. With many measures and bans put into place in the past years, India wants to tackle the issue, but deficient infrastructure and enforcement strategies have made for a very slow progress.
With plastic use in India forecast to grow nearly five-fold by 2060, government efforts will need to ramp up significantly in order to increase the circularity of the plastic economy.
How much plastic waste does India generate?
India’s first hurdle in tackling plastic waste pollution becomes apparent already when answering this question. While official numbers reported by states put plastic waste generation in India at just over four million metric tons per year in financial year 2020/2021, other sources estimate that this figure might be up to four times larger. In 2019, the OECD estimated that over 18 million metric tons of plastic waste were generated in India annually. This discrepancy arises from a lack of waste collection and disposal infrastructure in many locations and, in turn, a booming informal sector whose figures go mostly unregistered.Plastic waste management in India
One thing sources agree upon is that the majority of plastic waste generated in India is mismanaged. Although the figure has improved considerably since the beginning of the century, it is estimated that over 40 percent of plastic waste generated in the South Asian country in 2019 was either mismanaged or littered. Meanwhile, some 20 percent was collected for recycling that same year. However, after processing losses in both the formal and informal sectors were accounted for, only some 13 percent of total plastic waste generated was recycled that year. The remaining managed share that is not recycled ends up in landfills or, to a lesser extent, incinerated.Tackling plastic waste
In February 2022, recycling targets for plastic packaging were stipulated across India, ranging from 30 to 50 percent in FY 2024/25, depending on the product category. While the policy was welcomed as an important step forward, experts agree that the existing recycling capacity in the country is not enough to reach the end targets for FY 2027/28 and onwards. Meanwhile, a ban on several types of single-use plastics established that same year was mostly considered a failure due to a lack of national implementation plans or penalties imposed for non-compliance.With plastic use in India forecast to grow nearly five-fold by 2060, government efforts will need to ramp up significantly in order to increase the circularity of the plastic economy.
