An Amdavadi creates 11kg of plastic waste a year

AHMEDABAD: Of about 3,300 metric tonnes (MT) of solid waste collected in door-to-door initiative by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) daily, about 250-300MT of waste is different forms of plastic, indicated the AMC officials. Considering the population of city at 85 lakh according to some estimates, every Amdavadi on an average generates about 30 grams of plastic waste, or 10.9kg annually.
The number however has got reduced in the past five years, claim AMC officials.In 2018, the share of plastic waste was about 370MT, and per capita plastic waste generated was about 43 grams.

C R Kharsan, deputy municipal commissioner (solid waste management) of AMC, said that in past couple of years, initiatives such as banning plastic cups and polythene bags below 120 microns are taken along with promoting cloth and paper bags at malls and major commercial establishments. "Such initiatives help reduce the single-use plastic footprint in the city," he said.
AMC officials said that today about 50MT of plastic from domestic solid waste is recycled. Rules are also made to mandate the major residential colonies and clubs to process their own solid waste. For widely-used polythene bags, majority of the establishments use biodegradable material, they claimed.
But the major challenge remains that of segregation and public awareness. Harinesh Pandya, a city-based environmentalist, said that policies and circulars are fine, but it often doesn't translate into public action. "How many times we see someone throwing all the garbage neatly packed in a polythene bag and tossing it across? How would one expect to segregate such waste? It's multidimensional problem that needs both conviction and enforcement," he said.
(With inputs from Parth Shastri)