In India, rules and regulations pertaining to e-waste disposal are neither robust nor followed in spirit. The usage of black plastic in recycling in India is an urgent concern that needs to be studied in detail
Plastics are known to be a toxic threat to human health and environment alike, but a recent study by the scientists at the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom have discovered that the insatiable demand for plastic made consumables is fuelling the usage of recycled black plastic in items of everyday use such as food packaging, plastic jewellery, toys, coat hangers, storage containers and office equipment and so on. The scientists found that the growing demand for black plastic used in electronics design as well as inefficient handling of e-waste introduced toxic chemicals is finding its way into the recyclate or raw materials processed in waste recycling plants.
Although the concept of recycling is considered to be the best way to preserve the environment against adverse impacts of plastic, plastic materials that are toxic to begin with are still toxic, even after recycling and this becomes worse when items recycled with this plastic find their way into human consumables. Researchers across the world are beginning to discover to their dismay that the toxic strain in plastics continue well into its next manifestation as recycled items, which is a threat to both human health and environment.
Cheap production, durability, affordability to purchase and promise of quick reuse in domestic households have always driven the use and demand of plastic items. This growing demand especially for even cheaper black recycled plastic is introducing a never before increase in hazardous chemicals such as such as bromine, antimony and lead in our daily lives. These chemicals are applied to electronics like laptops and music systems as flame retardants.
Once entering the mainstream usage, these items find their way into food-contact items and other everyday products as the demand for black plastics in consumer products is met partly by sourcing from e-waste, and herein lies the problem.
According to a study published in Environmental International, black plastics are more dangerous than plastics in general as it cannot be properly recycled due to the low sensitivity of black pigments to infrared radiation that is used in conventional plastic sorting facilities. Apart from affecting human health, this also affects the marine and coastal environment either as litter or as micro plastics. The study of 600 black plastic products such as food-contact items, storage, clothing, toys, jewellery, stationeries and new and old electronic equipment found that lead concentration and other elements exceeded their permissible limits.
Given this mounting evidence of how material for consumer plastic items is being sourced from the plastic housings of end-of-life waste electronic and electrical equipment, the Government must immediately intervene and asses the ground situation to understand the real time threat of this aspect to human health and environment.
This is particularly crucial given the fact that in India, rules and regulations pertaining to e-waste disposal are neither robust nor followed with spirit. The usage of black plastic in recycling in India is an urgent concern that needs to be studied in detail.
In order to get a grip on the situation, the Government must adopt a strategy that is based on facts gleaned from the ground level. To make this happen the authorities must need to know how plastic, especially black plastic waste is moving in its life cycle right from manufacturing to disposal.
Based on this life cycle movement, the loopholes will need to be identified where these items are finding their way to alternative usage especially those items of use that pertain to food and beverage packing containers. To protect public health, authorities must first ensure that no food and beverage manufacturer is able to purchase recycled black plastic based containers for their products.
The Government must also ensure that the import of plastic waste is monitored in detail as various types of plastic, including those that do not recycle completely find their way into India’s consumer market because the entry is lax. China, for instance, has been very concerned regarding plastic pollution, but the country is acting too.
Recently, China prohibited plastic waste imports in order to stem the inflow of hazardous plastic into its consumer market. India can take a leaf out of Chinese strategy and first plug the various sources of imports, then the problem itself will become manageable and, therefore, results can be expected.
Recycling is good and it delivers great results. But it is also important — what is being recycled and where is it being used next — that is also crucial in the best interests of public health and environment.
(The writer is an environmental journalist)