⦿ Plastic is ubiquitous everywhere, from the top of the highest mountain to the deepest of trenches in the ocean.
⦿ Microplastics are formed by the degradation and the fragmentation of large plastic pieces that are improperly disposed of.
⦿ Microplastic deposition and accumulation has been found in the Himalayan mountains, rivers, lakes and streams
⦿ Unscientic plastic disposal is causing soil and water pollution in the Indian Himalayan Region
⦿ Rapid and unplanned urbanisation and changing production and consumption patterns are responsible for the plastic waste crisis in the Indian Himalayan Region.
⦿ The National Green Tribunal issued notices to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board
⦿ The Himalayan Clean up (2018-21) that was conducted by the Integrated Mountain Initiative with Zero Waste Himalayas) and the National Productivity Council of India’s waste and brand audit show increasing plastic waste.
⦿ The Himalayan Clean up (2022) waste audit results showed that 92.7% of trash was plastic, with 72% of waste being non-recyclable plastic
⦿ Every year, there is a day when the amount of plastic waste surpasses the capability of waste management systems to manage this. Environment Action, a Swiss-based organisation, calls it Plastic Overshoot Day
⦿ In 2023, India reached its plastic overshoot day on January 6
⦿ India has one of the highest mismanaged waste index (MWI), at 98.55%, in the world (after Kenya, Nigeria and Mozambique
⦿ In statistical analysis done by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) using CPCB data, India is merely recycling (through mechanical recycling) 12% of its plastic waste.
⦿ Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM) 2016, Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2016 and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) 2022 constitute the regulatory framework for plastic waste management for India (at the country level).
⦿ Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim have special State laws banning the use of plastics.
⦿ Under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and the Fifteenth Finance Commission, money was allocated to these traditional institutions.
⦿ The Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Scheme under which many cities in the Indian Himalayan Region are selected, could also work in convergence on the issue of scientic waste management and making cities in the Indian Himalayan Region free of plastic.