What needs to be done to end plastic pollution

In 2025, the world is projected to consume 516 million tons of plastic — an alarming increase of 116 million tons in just one year.

- Shombi Sharp

Yet only 21% is economically recyclable, and a mere 9% is actually recycled. Plastics have become omnipresent — from the peaks of remote mountains and depths of oceans to the tissues of human bodies and even unborn foetuses (as micro- and nano-plastics transferred from the mother). What began as a revolutionary material for convenience and efficiency is now deeply entwined with one of the planet's most pressing environmental threats. This World Environment Day, there is an urgent need to come together and agree on ways to end plastic pollution, including by phasing out single-use plastics. Our consumption patterns and dependence on plastics must change.

Some industries have found them particularly useful. Agriculture and its allied sectors, for example, have used plastics to deliver safe, fresh food to consumers. But plastic comes with growing concerns. Farmers frequently lack awareness and capacity for proper disposal, while inadequate infrastructure for collection, segregation, and recycling aggravates the problem. In many countries, including India, plastics are often burned, buried, or left in fields, which contaminates soil and water, eventually polluting oceans and degrading ecosystems. For example, phytoplanktons, which form the base of several aquatic food webs, harbor microplastics that end up in aquatic organisms such as fish, and ultimately humans.