Plastic crisis in the mountains: Will increased producer accountability bring the change?
Waste is coming to the mountains in neatly trucks with layers of plastic. These are heaps of plastic bottles of cold drinks, multi-layer boxes of fruit juice, shiny packets of chips, biscuits, and instant noodles. Biscuits lay neatly in trays, and little sachets of personal and household care goods litter our mountain vistas ceaselessly.
In India, approximately 40% of all plastics are single-use products. Companies are creating trash with them, and as a consumer, are ultimately paying for using it. This is the reason why landfills are exploding; dumpsites are burning more than ever and, waterways are suffering due to difficulties in movement because of plastic pollution.
We live in times of plastic crisis. Hence just recycling and dustbin narrative to manage plastic waste is not sufficient. The loophole in the production of plastic is ringing alarming bells, even after such adverse conditions, single-use products and the use of unnecessary plastic packaging are escalating and are projected to still rise.
Plastic made up 97 percent of the trash collected
It is a disaster for mountains that are already dealing with climate change issues. And the scars of the Plastic crisis are also visible. The Himalayan Cleanup (THC), an annual event organized by the Integrated Mountain Initiative and Zero Waste Himalaya that takes place on a single day across the 12 Himalayan states, has revealed that plastics have become all-pervasive in the mountains.
THC 2018 revealed that plastic made up 97 percent of the trash collected; the results for 2019 were similar. This exponential increase in plastic use has the potential to cause irreversible damage to mountain ecosystems. If mountain life, biodiversity, and ecological values are to be preserved, the one-way flow of plastics into the mountains must be reconsidered and reversed.
Plastic pollution in the mountains will not end anytime soon even with a provision in the EPR framework compel producers to look at mountains with a special lens. One that considers the socio-ecological fragility and ecosystem services that the mountains provide.
The waste that travels up the mountains by truckloads also needs to find its way down the same path. Or even better, zero production of it in all the cases.