Plastic Waste Management Roadmap

 A roadmap produced as part of an Australia-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership will support the Government of India and industry associations in responding to the requirements of the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty expected to be implemented in 2024.

India generates 26,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day and a large fraction goes to landfill or leaks into the environment. The roadmap initiatives could increase recycling rates by up to two thirds and decrease greenhouse emissions by 20-50%. Initiatives include creating value from plastic waste through better design, reuse and recycling. Reducing plastic waste by driving innovation, technologies, and business models that will extend the use of plastic materials. It will also drive new industries and jobs in a zero plastic waste economy.

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The roadmap also lays out strategies to support a circular economy in consultation with industry, government and community. They include circular design and production, investment in infrastructure, improved recycling capability, consistent compliance to waste management practices, commercially viable technologies, uptake of secondary materials like those that are recycled and repurposed and environmentally sustainable consumption.

The roadmap is a result of three years of collaborative research between Indian and Australian partners.