Like Japan and Singapore, why doesn’t India burn plastic waste to produce energy?

Over the last decade, the waste industry has been quietly growing.

Given the growing rates of trash generation, this is hardly a surprise. In 2012, the world generated 1.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste per year. According to a 2018 World Bank report, this number is set to hit 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050. To meet this demand, the global waste management market – which was estimated at $400 billion-$1,600 billion in 2020-2021 – is expected to reach $700-$2,483 billion by 2030.

India, with its growing population and rapid development, has a waste management industry estimated at $1.3 billion (Rs 9,656 crore). As of January 2020, estimates indicated that the country handled approximately 0.15 million (1,50,000) tonnes of solid waste. Of the 54 million tonnes of solid waste produced in this year (2019), 3.3 million tonnes was plastic.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board plastic waste management guidelines, all plastic waste must be segregated with non-recyclable plastics to be used in road laying, waste-to-energy projects, or conversion into refuse-derived fuels; and only a small fraction of non-recyclables should be disposed of in sanitary landfills.

However, this rarely occurs. In 2019-2020, only 60% of India’s plastic waste was handled according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s guidelines. The remaining was likely burnt, lost in nearby water bodies, or dumped as mixed waste…

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