PROBLEM STATEMENT
In view of growing menace of plastics waste, there is an urgent need to think for sustainable practices and prevent further environmental degradation being caused due to plastics waste thrown indiscriminately everywhere.
According to a rough estimate, about 60–65 MT of plastic waste are generated all over the state of Himachal Pradesh per annum (10% of the total waste generated), of which only 2-3 tonnes (0.5% of the total plastic waste generated) is disposed of safely and the rest is found openly in the environment mixed with municipal solid waste.
A weeklong “Polythene Hatao, Paryavaran Bachao Abhiyan” was launched in the year 2018 by the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, on 27th May, 2018 from Shimla to tackle this issue.
It is referred as disposable plastic which is
intended to be used only once before they
are thrown away or recycled
Average per capita consumption of plastic in India is
estimated to increase from 11 Kg to 20 Kg by the year
2020. Around 43% of manufactured plastics are single use
plastic. Currently India generates close to 26,000 tonnes of
plastic a day. While over 10,000 tonnes a day of plastic
waste remains uncollected and only 60% of total collected
plastic waste is recycled.
Plastic bag
20 years
Coffee pod 500 years
6 pack
plastic ring
400 years
Disposable
diapers
500 years
Coffee cup 30 years
Plastic cup
450 years 
Plastic
toothbrush
500 years
Plastic water bottle
30 years
Plastic straw
20 yearsSingle-use plastics deplete natural resoursces as it takes one-fourth bottle of crude oil to produce a single water bottle.
Plastics pollute oceans and disrupt enviromental cycles as it may kill marine animals and birds when they accicentlly consume plastic or get trapped in it .
Plastics decompose to microplastics (5 mm in size) that easily enter marine products, such as fish and salt. This way the microplastics enter the food chain and human body when we consume sea food. Plastics may lead to hormonal disruption, asthma, dizziness, cancers in human beings.
Burning of plastics releases hazardous VOCs and dioxins which are harmful for human health and enviroment.
Single-use plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose and create huge carbon footprint due to their ectensive worldwide usage.
Recycling of single-use plastic is difficult to practice, moreover, food material and drinks packed in single-use plastics are unsafe as plastics release harmful material like BPA, antimony and phthalates.