India Plastic Waste Management Market Overview, 2028

India, one of the largest plastic users in the world, with more than 20,000 plastic manufacturing businesses operating at any given moment. Over 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been created in the past 70 years, and more than 80% of it has been thrown away as rubbish. Due to this, India must have an effective system for managing plastic garbage. The goal of effective recycling in India is currently being implemented by businesses like Sasha Zero Waste.  Saahas Zero Waste, one of the leaders in plastic garbage management in India, is reinventing how plastic waste is managed by collaborating with businesses, commercial enterprises, tech parks, homes, residential communities, and institutions. It is estimated that approximately 70% of plastic packaging products are converted into plastic waste in a short span. Approximately 9.4 million TPA plastic wastes is generated in the country, which amounts to 26,000 TPD2. 

According to the research report “India Plastic Waste Management Market Overview, 2028, published by Bonafide Research, the market is expected to add USD 276.85 Million in the upcoming period, 2023–2028. Based on service type, which comprises collection and transportation, recycling, incineration, and landfills. Reduction of landfill locations a lot of environmental issues arise from the disposal of waste in landfills. Recyclable items, such as paper, cardboard, metal, and plastic, are kept out of landfills. Requirements for Energy are reduced. When compared, for instance, to the production of new plastic products, recycling plastic uses less energy and materials. Decrease in pollution recycling the trash instead of dumping it in a landfill will help to cut down on the pollution those results from doing so. The carbon footprint of a product is also decreased by recycling different products, which results in lower carbon emissions.

In India, the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016 and 2018 and the recently announced amendment of 2021 focus on single-use plastics. The rules detail the various categories of plastics and recommend recycling methods based on the type of plastic polymer used. Various manufacturing industries across the globe produce 400 million tonnes of plastic waste per year, with the packaging industry being the largest contributor. On 25 July, Earth Sciences Minister Jitendra Singh had said that more than 200 tonnes of garbage, mainly single-use plastic, have been removed from the sea coasts during the first 20 days of the ongoing Coastal Clean-Up campaign. Singh reviewed the progress of the 75-day campaign that was launched on July 5 and aimed at removing 1,500 tonnes of garbage from the 7,500-km long coastline of the country by September 17, which is observed as International Coastal Clean-up Day.

Around 34.7 lakh tonnes per annum (TPA) of plastic wastes was generated by India during 2019-20, Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Lok Sabha.He also added that 15.8 lakh TPA of the plastic waste was recycled and 1.67 lakh TPA was co-processed. Which makes it 50% of the total plastic waste produced recycled. Recently, India banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of identified single-use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, all across the country from July 1, 2022. The list of banned items includes - earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene (thermocol) for decoration, plastic plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Report (2019-20) had stated that 3.5 million metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated in India annually. Speaking about a 2021 United Nations paper and several media reports, 77 countries in the world had passed full or partial ban on plastic bags.

The clarion call of the Honourable Prime Minister to address the issue of single-use plastics on the 73rd Independence Day triggered massive attention towards plastic waste management in the country. It is encouraging to observe that India’s overall solid waste treatment capacity saw a steep rise from 18 percent in 2014 to 70 percent in 2021. Over the past six years, the Central Government, State Governments, urban local bodies, and most importantly, the citizens of the country have shown remarkable coordination and dedication for Swachhta like never seen before. The Swachh Bharat Mission received acclaim from around the globe for its impressive measurable results achieved within a short period. However, while Swachhta is a continuous journey, we as a nation need to move towards stricter implementation of the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle concept.  In India the Govt. initiative such as “Make in India”, Skill in India” and “Digital India” has increased the growth of plastic products. Some of the plastic waste management companies in India are The Shakti Plastic Industries, Dalmia Polypro Industries - Recycling & Waste Management Services, Ecoli Waste Management, Saahas Zero Waste - Waste Management & Consulting Services (Waste Recyclers), PLASTROOTS Waste Management and Solutions, GSM Plastic Industries, Ecoli Waste Management and many more.

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Manmayi Raval

Research Consultant

Considered in this report
• Geography: India
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

By Service Type
• Collection & transportation
• Recycling
• Incineration
• Landfills

By Source Type
• Residential
• Commercial & institutional
• Industrial
• Others

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By Polymer Type
• Polypropylene (PP)
• Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• Polyurethane (PUR)
• Polystyrene (PS)
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• Others

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducted trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources. 

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to plastic waste management market, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.