How often do you come across plastic waste littered through the city streets and how often do you pick it up and throw it into the nearest dustbin? While you ponder the fact that you don’t, there is more than one reason why recycling is a difficult practice.

By 2022, India’s annual plastic consumption is expected to nearly double from 11 kg to 20 kg per capita. Obviously indicating more plastic waste and hence greater need to invest in recycling.

Plastic as luxurious and convenient it can be is a double-edged sword because the same plastic is seen as a challenge to our wildlife, marine life and the future generations of mankind.

Reducing and reusing have yielded remotely modest results as industries continue to blend in more plastic in their innovations. The third musketeer, recycling is the real hero . The myths of this practice make us believe that the entire process is as simple as your morning routine. When in reality it’s a whole other ball game.

While on paper it sounds pretty straight forward, here are the reasons why it’s not

Slash in incentives

The source of the collection lies at the hands of industrious rag pickers. This informal group of people who toll to segregate the waste is critical to waste management, yet they are not incentivized enough for their work. Waste collection in big cities is often outsourced and the payment terms discourage waste segregation as it encourages dumping.

The Government had reformed policies to initiate a policy called EPR (Extended Producer’s Responsibility) that mandates producers and brand owners to be responsible for their plastic until the end of its life, meaning they would need to establish a collect-back system to reduce plastic waste. But to build such a comprehensive and sophisticated supply chain has allowed producers to take a backseat and continue to let the unorganized sector pick up their scraps. No doubt it is their source of livelihood but even that has drained due to the Government initiatives such as GST and demonetization.

Game-changing policies

The already-hit industry has dwindled even further below from demonetization and the impact of GST. Demonetization brought about a major cash crunch, and with most waste aggregators cash was what worked. When the cash flow got dented, it also hurt the sales of many ragpicker’s stocks.

This was the second recession after the 2015 crude oil price drop. This affected not just waste aggregators and scrap dealers, but a number of people along the informal chain of recycling in India.

The third recession that hit the industry was the introduction of GST. It brought a sudden increase in the tax on scrap material, dropping its value once again. This drop would cycle through the chain and hurt everyone along the way. What’s worse is that businesses are able to get a refund of their tax input, but rag pickers could not as they are not a registered entity.

Now people are doing the same amount of work but with receding income.

GST had equalized tax rates on recycled and virgin products diminishing the margins on recycled fibers. There have been revisions but the initial effect of GST has made a permanent impact in the supply chain.

We’re not advanced enough

India lacks advanced infrastructure to offer efficient and effective solutions. This leads to economic loss and a long list of environmental and social consequences. Rudimentary technology down cycles a major chunk of plastic waste resulting in lower quality material.

The problem with plastic recycling in India is that there is too much plastic to recycle and too little infrastructure to accommodate that amount. Plastic has become an integral part of daily life across India, and as much as the government promotes recycling, it is not easy to recycle 100 percent plastic waste. If recyclable plastics become common in the market, then it will ensure that the rate of recycling becomes faster said Professor Anup Sinha of the Centre for Development and Environment Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

What books don’t teach us

Education is perhaps the most important factor in this list.

Engagement and awareness are needed throughout the entire value chain to address these complicated problems.

Everyone has a role to play, from the consumer who purchases from responsible brands to the designer who creates products that can be easily recycled, but most important, brands and manufacturers need to create markets for the plastic waste stream by choosing to source recycled materials.

It’s about time we treat environmental concerns more serious than before. Our lives depend on our actions. We need to see past our 4 walled houses and realize that the outside world is our real home. Conserving and nurturing Earth should be the forefront goal of every institution and individual.

Our ideas about development and the economy have removed us from this reality. It is time we realize that the fanciful notions we have about life and the world no longer work. We must do something more mature. This maturity must come from business, industry and government.

In our lives, if we do not do what we cannot do, it is not a problem. But if we do not do what we can do, we are a disaster. As a generation, we should not become a disaster.