India leads in plastic waste emissions, surpassing China

New Delhi: A recent study has made it clear that India is now the world’s largest plastic polluter, releasing 9.3 million tonnes of plastic every year. This constitutes around one-fifth of the world’s plastic pollution. Nigeria and Indonesia occupy second and third place, respectively, with 3.5 million tonnes and 3.4 million tonnes of plastic emissions.

The study also makes it clear that overall India’s official numbers on waste generation are around 0.12 kilograms per person per day. But this data is not authentic, as the report suggests that the amount of waste collected may be reported as higher than it actually is. This difference arises because data from rural areas is not registered properly.

Before India, China was holding the top position among the plastic polluter nations in the world. This change is an indication that China has made a lot of improvements in waste management, like investments in incineration and better landfills, in the last 15 years. The study used reliable sources to get exact unreported waste and provides a clearer picture of plastic pollution all over the world.

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The researchers observed plastic emissions from over 50,000 municipal-level administrations, considering five sources: uncollected waste, littering, collection systems, uncontrolled disposal, and waste rejected during sorting and recycling.

The study got the data that global plastic emissions touched 52.1 million tonnes in 2020. Littering was the biggest source of emissions in the Global North, while uncollected waste was the main issue in the Global South.

20 countries are 69% responsible for the world’s maximum plastic pollution. Despite producing more plastic waste, high-income countries are not among the top 90 polluters because they have strong waste collection and disposal systems.