India, World's Largest Source of Plastic Pollution
Recent research confirms that India has become the world's leading plastic polluter. According to a June 23rd report in India Today, India emits 9.3 million tons of plastic waste annually, accounting for 20% of the world's total plastic waste—equivalent to one in every five pieces of plastic waste worldwide.
Where does the plastic go? Only 12% is recycled.
Behind India's massive plastics industry lies a severely inefficient waste disposal system. Data shows that the national plastic recycling rate is only 12%, another 20% is incinerated, and the remaining approximately 70% remains unaccounted for. This "lost plastic" ends up in rivers, farmland, roadsides, or open landfills, posing a long-term environmental hazard.
Pollution Hotspots: From the Ganges to Slums
India has long been renowned for its pollution problems: in 2018, 14 of the world's 15 most polluted cities were in India. Agence France-Presse even bluntly dubbed it a "plastic hell." The capital, New Delhi, banned plastic bottles in 2009 and implemented a complete ban on single-use plastics in 2022. However, the policy remains ineffective—plastics are still used to transport vegetables and for restaurant takeout. One resident admitted, "We're too poor, we have no choice."
A Disastrous Example of an Economically Powerful State
Take Maharashtra, India's wealthiest state, for example. In 2022, the region generated 536,000 tons of plastic waste, with an average annual per capita discard of 5.36 kg in urban areas and 3.38 kg in rural areas. If left unchecked, plastic demand will surge 568% by 2040, with waste volume rising to 3.58 million tons, while the recycling rate plummets from 19% to 13%. More seriously, plastic incineration releases 2.72 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to the annual emissions of 600,000 cars.
The policy is only theoretical, but recycling faces numerous challenges.
Although India has introduced the Plastic Waste Management Rules, requiring businesses to achieve 100% plastic recycling by 2024, the reality is riddled with loopholes. In 2014, Modi launched the "Clean India" campaign, proclaiming "toilets first, temples second," with the goal of making India clean by 2019. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent, yet even the 2002 waste management rules were not implemented. He renewed the clean plan in 2019, investing a significant amount of money, but by 2023, India had fewer than six major waste management companies, and Mumbai, with a population of 26 million, had only one.
Waste pickers live in a harsh environment: India's waste recycling system is a complete ecosystem, and at the bottom are the people who work near the garbage dumps. They earn the least, but they support the entire chain—collecting, sorting, and selling the waste to upstream suppliers, earning around 200 rupees a day.
For these 3.5 million waste pickers, threats come from rats, police, dogs, pigs, monkeys, and gangs. When animals compete for food, even an aggressive stray dog can be dangerous. But the police are even more formidable. When Indian police need a scapegoat, low-caste waste pickers are often targeted. Gangs are also a major threat. Fights and clashes in garbage mountains are commonplace, as gangs compete for territory and often force the poor to work for them.
A glimmer of hope: Circular economy experiments have begun.
Technical recycling companies are on the rise: Ganesha Ecosphere, for example, has recycled over 41 billion bottles, saving 5.4 million cubic meters of landfill space.
The state government has developed a roadmap: Maharashtra plans to increase its plastic recycling rate to 48% by 2040, through measures such as promoting reusable packaging and supporting design-for-recycling technologies.
The health cost: Plastic waste is poisoning the public.
Open burning: Open burning of plastic waste is a hidden killer. This stopgap measure releases potent carcinogens such as dioxins, respirable particulate matter (PM2.5), and black carbon, a greenhouse gas. Medical research has confirmed that these pollutants directly cause cancer, respiratory diseases, and developmental disorders in newborns.
Heavy metal pollution: An analysis by the Indian Center for Science and Environment shows that the Ganges and its banks contain significant amounts of heavy metals (nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, and manganese), which can enter the human body through various pathways. In 2025, Nature Medicine discovered that the microplastic content in the brain tissue of deceased people in 2024 was 50% higher than in 2016, about 7 grams - now every living person has at least a spoonful of plastic in their brain, and no one can escape.