What is the solution to India’s garbage disposal problem?

Source: The post is based on an article “What is the solution to India’s garbage disposal problem?” published in The Indian Express on 28^th September 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Environmental Pollution

Relevance: problems associated with garbage

Context: There is a garbage problem everywhere around the country. Companies make the product but they are unable to take this garbage back to the recycling plants due to the low cost of the packaged material.

What does the data say?

According to a recent annual report of a large consumer goods (FMCG) company, out of every Rs 100 of the company’s product that we buy, Rs 5 go up in vehicular smoke and Rs 8 for the package that we hold in our hand.

This packaging is required because the products have a long shelf life, and withstand heat, sunlight and rough handling during freight.

After using the product consumers throw it in the garbage which can be seen littering around the road causing problems like choking gutters.

However, there are different laws present to address the problem.

What steps have been taken by the government to address the issue?

Government has various laws but they lack implementation.

According to the law, the Ultimate Manufacturers (UMs) of plastic are responsible for the collection of the waste and its processing.

They must set up collection networks and work with state pollution control boards and the city and town administrations. It will ensure that the waste reaches recyclers and manufacturers.

However, this system has not worked because of the economy associated with it.

For example, Rs 8 out of 100 was spent on packaging the product, the cost of the packaging materials is barely Rs 1.

Even with the most advanced recycling technology, the value of that piece of garbage in our hand to the ultimate manufacturer is less than 50 paise.

Therefore, it is simply not economical to transfer the waste back to the manufacturer.

This is why the garbage dumps, ragpickers, and the neighborhood kabaddi shops are necessarily the only last mile option of our recycling system.

What can be the course of action?

A suitable amount of money can be implemented as a sustainability tax on the packaging and carriage cost components of a given product. This tax can be easily administered and transferred to the districts and towns.

This would provide the company with a good amount to address its garbage disposal problem.

Therefore, a consumption tax based on sustainability would create the right incentives for a scientific analysis of garbage and the logistics of its disposal.

Further, it will also create a group of professional companies who specialize in this sector and provide their services to hundreds of cities and towns.