India's Plastic Packaging Boom Is Choking the Country's Future

The facts

• 1India is one of the world's largest producers of plastic packaging waste, generating more than 4 million tonnes annually, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
• 2Multi-layered plastics (MLPs) — the thin, foil-like sachets used for chips, ketchup, and shampoos — are almost impossible to recycle because they combine different materials fused together.
• 3Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules, introduced by India's Ministry of Environment in 2022, require companies that make plastic packaging to collect and recycle an equal amount of waste — but enforcement has been inconsistent.
• 4Plastic packaging use in India grew by over 200% between 2000 and 2020, driven by the boom in single-use sachets sold at kirana shops, making everyday goods cheaper but creating a recycling nightmare.
• 5Micro-plastics — tiny fragments smaller than 5 mm — have now been detected in Indian rivers, groundwater, and even in human blood samples tested by researchers at IIT Bombay.