PLASTICS WASTE MANAGEMENT: DRIVING PLASTIC ECONOMY TRANSITION IN LINE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Abstract

There have been widespread concerns about the pollution of oceans and other ecosystems by plastic materials, among the health officials, scientists, researchers and members of public in general, at the global and regional levels. The seriousness of the problem posed by detection of microplastics in food chain has exacerbated these concerns resulting in demands for practical and meaningful strategies to be adopted by various stakeholders, viz. government and think tanks, private sector corporations, NGOs and communities. It is inevitable that with likely growth in earth’s human population in the coming years, the environmental damage due to plastic pollution will worsen without intervention, and unless such strategies are adopted and implemented in an effective manner. Thus, there is a need to examine this issue in a holistic way. This dissertation provides a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts of plastic used for packaging, and proposes a roadmap for moving towards circular economy focused on stemming the flow of plastic waste into the ocean. The study is focused on rapidly developing economies in Asia Pacific, in particular India, Indonesia and the Philippines, where some of the most significant leakage of plastic waste into the ocean occurs. Given the backdrop of poor waste management infrastructure in many parts of the world, and the limited ability of developing countries to implement capital-intensive recycling technologies, this dissertation also shares on-ground insights on lifecycle analysis in order to influence policy-driven solutions to the increasing post-consumer plastic waste situation. Thorough a review of the present post-consumer plastic waste issues, it discusses a range of efforts and solutions currently being explored in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, and provides key insights into the varying success of the different efforts. Based on the assessment, it is proposed that the business as usual situation is not desirable, and a re-thinking of the strategies is required to integrate those efforts into a successful and sustainable case for a circular economy involving multiple stakeholders. The studies also recommend that focusing on design and recycling technologies will not be adequate. The application of modern but cost effective tools and technologies such as GIS (Geographic Information System), data science, drones and social media would be useful as a part of the overall strategy. The studies in this dissertation can form a basis for future studies to quantitatively estimate the impact of the circular economy and strategies using population dynamics, beyond the United Nations’ sustainable goals.