The big picture
What needs to be done to phase out the evil of plastics? First, companies that produce plastics and those who use plastics in their packaging or product making should bear the responsibility for it throughout its life cycle. This is called extended producers responsibility (EPR) in which every manufacturer is responsible for the plastics they use. Such a company is responsible for ensuring that the plastic is collected and recycled. This ensures manufacturers are unable to pass on the burden for cleaning it up to others. If we had adequate EPR in India, perhaps we would see fewer plastics!

Second, we need to phase out toxics materials like PVC and additives like phthalates and heavy metals from the materials cycle entirely. Only by beginning a planned, time-bound phase out can the change be expected to occur.

Third, by encouraging alternatives the burden of plastics can reduce in society. Of course, no single material is an adequate substitute for plastics. Yet, packaging that is cellulose (paper) based will only encourage forestry and green practices, and therefore prove less of a burden on the environment. While alternative materials are one solution to plastics, better design is another.

Fourth , a sensible policy on packaging and waste minimisation is urgently needed. Everyone in India is allowed to produce as much waste as they like. There are neither incentives nor effective rules to reduce the waste generated. In the case of plastics, most of the plastics, i.e., 52 per cent, go into packaging. It is here that rules are required to both reduce the amount of packaging materials per se and the amount of plastics in packaging. Ireland has recently proved to the world that this can be done. A green tax has taken 1 billion plastic bags off the shelves since March 2002 and Irish shoppers have cut down their need for plastic bags overnight by 90 per cent. All this is thanks to small 15 per cent fees levied on each bag. In the first three months since the government introduced the new 15 per cent plastic bag levy consumers used some 277 million fewer bags. Instead of using a staggering 1.2 billion plastic bags shoppers will walk away from checkouts with just 120 million plastic bags over a 12-month period in a sea change of shopping culture. Moreover, when packaging cannot be recycled it must be particularly disincentivised. Efforts therefore have to remove the misconception that plastics are "cheap and safe" and therefore the industry and consumer need to get subsidies. The health and environment burden of this heavily subsidised material is extremely unjustified.

Can there be a world without a single piece of plastic? Probably not in the near future. Because there are too many commercial interest, many manufacturers and products in the sector that have convinced public at large that there are no alternatives. The truth is that there are effective strategies to reduce plastics in the world around us. We can begin to phase out the most toxic plastics and those being used in the non-critical sector. Already, there are restrictions on some kinds of plastics and their applications in many countries. In India and many parts of Asia, there is a rich tradition of alternatives to both plastic materials and design and products themselves. The point is to make it easier to use them, so that we can slowly eliminate most plastics from our lives. We have to begin one step at a time. It’s possible. It’s been done before.

A Statement of Concern and Call for Action on Plastics and Public Health

Policy, in India, has always promoted the production and use of plastics. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the consumption of plastics trebles every decade, but there have been little efforts to regulate its use or study its toxicity and impact on public health. From production to disposal, plastics pose a constant threat to human health. While this impact of plastics has begun to be acknowledged globally, there is little concern and action about this in India.

PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) is a case in point. As much as 28 per cent of all plastics used in India is PVC, making it the most commonly used plastics in the country. From the slippers that you wear to the stationary used in schools, buildings and offices, the dangers of PVC are all-pervasive. One of the main additives in PVC are phthalates, that lend PVC its inherent physical characteristics. Even a teether in a child's mouth or a soft plastic toy release phthalates. Phthalates bond loosely with the polymer chains and can easily leach out, leading to severe consequences such as hormonal imbalance, systemic disorders, decline in sperm count in men and cancer.

Polystyrene, another commonly used plastic to package food and make thermocol cups, leaches another toxic chemical, Bisphenol A, a building block. It causes hormonal imbalance and diverse types of cancers. Polycarbonates, used for making babies’ bottles and most refill jars of water dispensers, can cause severe systemic disorders in children. Other types of plastics such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), used to package soft drink and water bottles; HDPE (high density polyethylene) used in manufacturing cooking oil containers; LDPE (low density polyethylene) which is a vital component in plastic bags; and PP (polypropylene) used to make caps for containers, all impact public health in various ways. Beginning with the foetus in the womb, toxic effects of plastics manifest themselves with an array of ailments at every age.

Plastics recycling facilities in India are grossly inadequate. There are no proven "safe" technologies to recycle plastics continuously, and the government and civic authorities make no efforts to introduce one. PVC is openly burned in bins or poorly recycled in shanty units, which emit dioxins — a class of cancer- causing compounds.

With such a toxic world as our legacy, our key concerns are:

• Banning the use of confirmed toxic chemicals in manufacturing plastics.
• Implementing the best possible standards in quality that upholds the interests of public health.
• Learning from the experience of those who have begun phasing out plastics.
• Ensuring that public health decisions are based on precautionary principles.
• Creating incentives for the production and use of safe alternatives.