Delhi, known for generating approximately 1,100 tonnes of plastic waste on a daily basis, asserts that its civic bodies have relatively high rates of recycling and processing. For instance, the New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Cantonment Board claim to recycle and process 100% of their plastic waste. The larger Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) currently claims a recycling and processing rate of 78%, with plans to achieve 100% by June of the following year. While these statistics may sound impressive, there is a caveat. An anonymous expert informed TOI that only a small portion of the daily 871 tonnes of plastic waste managed by the three civic bodies is actually recycled. The majority of the plastic waste is sent to waste-to-energy plants where it is incinerated. MCD officials did not provide a response to TOI’s inquiries regarding this matter. Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, the programme manager for the municipal solid waste unit at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), also expressed that the term “processing” is quite ambiguous.
Priti Banthia Mahesh, the chief programme coordinator at Toxics Link, voiced her concerns about waste-to-energy plants, stating that they are not a viable solution and may hinder important environmental objectives such as transitioning to a circular economy, waste prevention, and recycling. She emphasized that plastic waste which cannot be recycled should be reduced and eliminated instead of being incinerated. Mahesh highlighted that recycling should be the final measure for plastics that cannot be reused or repurposed, as relying solely on recycling is insufficient to address the plastic problem.
So, why aren’t more plastics being reused or recycled? Swati Singh Sambyal, a waste management expert based in Delhi, attributes this issue to the problem of segregation. She explains that recycling is contingent upon the quality of the plastic waste feed, and due to the lack of robust segregation systems in Delhi, the feed is often contaminated. Consequently, additional costs are incurred for washing and cleaning the plastic waste before recycling, making it impractical for small-scale recyclers. As a result, a significant portion of the plastic waste ends up in waste-to-energy plants.
