India pledges to eliminate single-use plastics by 2020

• The world has produced over 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste since 1950.
• Every Indian on an average consumes 11 kgs of plastic per year.
  
• India also planning to join the “Clean Marine Ecosystem”.

Plastic is a growing concern not only for India but the whole world. Disposal and recycling of single-use plastic items such as polythene bags and containers are a major concern. Since the 1950s, an estimated 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced, of which an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% of plastic waste has been incinerated.

India was the global host of the World Environment Day this year. The country, which is in the 75th year of its independence, pledged to eliminate the use of all single-use-plastic items like straws, plastic bags and water bottles, by the year 2022.
Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, on the occasion of the World Environment Day, said - "We make a solemn pledge that we will eliminate all single-use plastics from our country." This statement has also shed some light on the PM’s idea of new India by the year 2022.
At Vigyan Bhawan where India’s Prime Minister Narendra Singh Modi emphasised on India’s relentless commitment towards protecting the environment, Vardhan said - "This India of our dreams (New India) will be single-use plastic free."

This commitment is intended to send strong messages to the world which is threatened with increasing plastic pollution due to the huge amounts of environmental degradation it causes.
Modi in his speech mentioned that India is preparing to join the “Clean Sea Campaign” and make its contribution towards saving the world's oceans. "Plastic threatens to become a menace to humanity. A lot of it never makes it to the recycling stations”, he said.

The annual average per capita consumption of plastic in India is at 11 kg as against the global average of 28 kg. The large amount of plastic waste the world produces inevitably enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris.