IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i8p4425-d789401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Plastic Waste Management in India: Challenges, Opportunities, and Roadmap for Circular Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Rumana Hossain

    (Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology, SMaRT@UNSW, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Md Tasbirul Islam

    (Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology, SMaRT@UNSW, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Riya Shanker

    (Director’s Research Cell, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nehru Marg, Nagpur 440 020, India)

  • Debishree Khan

    (Director’s Research Cell, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nehru Marg, Nagpur 440 020, India)

  • Katherine Elizabeth Sarah Locock

    (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian Manufacturing and Materials Precinct, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia)

  • Anirban Ghose

    (Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology, SMaRT@UNSW, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

  • Heinz Schandl

    (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Black Mountain Science and Innovation Park, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia)

  • Rita Dhodapkar

    (Director’s Research Cell, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nehru Marg, Nagpur 440 020, India)

  • Veena Sahajwalla

    (Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology, SMaRT@UNSW, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia)

Abstract

Plastic waste (PW) is one of the most rapid-growing waste streams in municipal solid waste all over the world. India has become a global player in the plastic value chain. Despite low consumption, domestic generation and imports create a significant burden on the overall waste management system, which requires in-depth understanding of the scenario and pathways that can mitigate the crisis. Although Indian researchers have widely researched technology-related issues in academic papers, a substantial knowledge gap exists in understanding the problem’s depth and possible solutions. This review article focuses on current plastic production, consumption, and waste generation in India. This review article mainly analyzes data and information regarding Indian PW management and highlights some critical issues such as reverse supply chain, effective PW management, source-specific recovery, and PW rules in India. Comprehensively, this review will help to identify implementable strategies for policymakers and research opportunities for future researchers in holistic PW management and recycling in India, focusing on the circular economy and sustainable development goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Rumana Hossain & Md Tasbirul Islam & Riya Shanker & Debishree Khan & Katherine Elizabeth Sarah Locock & Anirban Ghose & Heinz Schandl & Rita Dhodapkar & Veena Sahajwalla, 2022. "Plastic Waste Management in India: Challenges, Opportunities, and Roadmap for Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-34, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4425-:d:789401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4425/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4425/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elsawy, Moataz A. & Kim, Ki-Hyun & Park, Jae-Woo & Deep, Akash, 2017. "Hydrolytic degradation of polylactic acid (PLA) and its composites," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1346-1352.
    2. Panda, Achyut K. & Singh, R.K. & Mishra, D.K., 2010. "Thermolysis of waste plastics to liquid fuel: A suitable method for plastic waste management and manufacture of value added products--A world prospective," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 233-248, January.
    3. Unnisa, Syeda Azeem & Hassanpour, Malek, 2017. "Development circumstances of four recycling industries (used motor oil, acidic sludge, plastic wastes and blown bitumen) in the world," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 605-624.
    4. Laurent Lebreton & Anthony Andrady, 2019. "Future scenarios of global plastic waste generation and disposal," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Bethanie Carney Almroth & Håkan Eggert, 2019. "Marine Plastic Pollution: Sources, Impacts, and Policy Issues," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(2), pages 317-326.
    6. Kumar, Sachin & Panda, Achyut K. & Singh, R.K., 2011. "A review on tertiary recycling of high-density polyethylene to fuel," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(11), pages 893-910.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. B. T. Ramesh & Javed Sayyad & Arunkumar Bongale & Anupkumar Bongale, 2022. "Extraction and Performance Analysis of Hydrocarbons from Waste Plastic Using the Pyrolysis Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Hridoy Roy & Samiha Raisa Alam & Rayhan Bin-Masud & Tonima Rahman Prantika & Md. Nahid Pervez & Md. Shahinoor Islam & Vincenzo Naddeo, 2022. "A Review on Characteristics, Techniques, and Waste-to-Energy Aspects of Municipal Solid Waste Management: Bangladesh Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Gemechu Abdissa & Abebe Ayalew & Anna Dunay & Csaba Bálint Illés, 2022. "Role of Reverse Logistics Activities in the Recycling of Used Plastic Bottled Water Waste Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-20, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Das, Amar Kumar & Sahu, Santosh Kumar & Panda, Achyut Kumar, 2022. "Current status and prospects of alternate liquid transportation fuels in compression ignition engines: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Zhao, Xiang & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Fengqi You,, 2022. "Energy and environmental sustainability of waste personal protective equipment (PPE) treatment under COVID-19," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    3. Adriana Abril Ortiz & Dolores Sucozhañay & Paul Vanegas & Andrés Martínez-Moscoso, 2020. "A Regional Response to a Global Problem: Single Use Plastics Regulation in the Countries of the Pacific Alliance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, October.
    4. Ana B. Cuevas & David E. Leiva-Candia & M. P. Dorado, 2024. "An Overview of Pyrolysis as Waste Treatment to Produce Eco-Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-32, June.
    5. Changping Zhao & Juanjuan Sun & Yun Zhang, 2022. "A Study of the Drivers of Decarbonization in the Plastics Supply Chain in the Post-COVID-19 Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Kawther Saeedi & Anna Visvizi & Dimah Alahmadi & Amal Babour, 2023. "Smart Cities and Households’ Recyclable Waste Management: The Case of Jeddah," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Bassey, Uduak & Sarquah, Khadija & Hartmann, Michael & Tom, Abasi-ofon & Beck, Gesa & Antwi, Edward & Narra, Satyanarayana & Nelles, Michael, 2023. "Thermal treatment options for single-use, multilayered and composite waste plastics in Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    8. Khan, Abir & Sapuan, S.M. & Yusuf, J. & Siddiqui, Vasi Uddin & Zainudin, E.S. & Zuhri, M.Y.M. & Tuah Baharuddin, B.T. Hang & Ansari, Mubashshir Ahmad & Rahman, A. Azim A., 2023. "An examination of cutting-edge developments in Bamboo-PLA composite research: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    9. Rafael Estevez & Laura Aguado-Deblas & Francisco J. López-Tenllado & Felipa M. Bautista & Antonio A. Romero & Diego Luna, 2024. "Study on the Performance and Emissions of Triple Blends of Diesel/Waste Plastic Oil/Vegetable Oil in a Diesel Engine: Advancing Eco-Friendly Solutions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Cordier, Mateo & Uehara, Takuro & Baztan, Juan & Jorgensen, Bethany & Yan, Huijie, 2021. "Plastic pollution and economic growth: The influence of corruption and lack of education," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    11. Amna Farrukh & Aymen Sajjad, 2024. "Investigating sustainability tensions and resolution strategies in the plastic food packaging industry—A paradox theory approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 2868-2889, May.
    12. Park, Ki-Bum & Choi, Min-Jun & Chae, Da-Yeong & Jung, Jaeheum & Kim, Joo-Sik, 2022. "Separate two-step and continuous two-stage pyrolysis of a waste plastic mixture to produce a chlorine-depleted oil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    13. Muise, Isaac & Adams, Michelle & Côté, Ray & Price, G.W., 2016. "Attitudes to the recovery and recycling of agricultural plastics waste: A case study of Nova Scotia, Canada," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 137-145.
    14. Evangelos Danopoulos & Maureen Twiddy & Jeanette M Rotchell, 2020. "Microplastic contamination of drinking water: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, July.
    15. Jiang, Yuchen & Li, Xianglin & Li, Chao & Zhang, Lijun & Zhang, Shu & Li, Bin & Wang, Shuang & Hu, Xun, 2022. "Pyrolysis of typical plastics and coupled with steam reforming of their derived volatiles for simultaneous production of hydrogen-rich gases and heavy organics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 476-491.
    16. Vlasopoulos, Antonis & Malinauskaite, Jurgita & Żabnieńska-Góra, Alina & Jouhara, Hussam, 2023. "Life cycle assessment of plastic waste and energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    17. R. R. M. K. P. Ranatunga & Dilhara Wijetunge & W. V. P. H. Ranaweera & Chin-Chang Hung & Shang-Yin Vanson Liu & Qamar Schuyler & T. J. Lawson & Britta Denise Hardesty, 2023. "Ranking Sri Lanka among the World’s Top Mismanaged Waste Polluters: Does Model Data Change the Story?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-12, February.
    18. Berkowicz-Płatek, Gabriela & Żukowski, Witold & Wrona, Jan & Wencel, Kinga, 2024. "Thermal decomposition of polyolefins under different oxygen content. Composition of products and thermal effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    19. Nakayama, Tadanobu & Osako, Masahiro, 2023. "Development of a process-based eco-hydrology model for evaluating the spatio-temporal dynamics of macro- and micro-plastics for the whole of Japan," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 476(C).
    20. Sri Devi Kumari, T. & Jebaraj, Adriel J.J. & Raj, T. Antony & Jeyakumar, D. & Kumar, T. Prem, 2016. "A kish graphitic lithium-insertion anode material obtained from non-biodegradable plastic waste," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 483-493.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4425-:d:789401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.