Plastic Waste Management in India: Challenges, Opportunities, and Roadmap for Circular Economy

TLDR

Plastic waste is a rapidly growing municipal solid waste stream worldwide, and India—though a global plastic value chain player—faces a significant burden from domestic generation and imports, revealing a knowledge gap in understanding the problem’s depth and solutions. This review focuses on India’s plastic production, consumption, and waste generation, aiming to identify implementable strategies for policymakers and research opportunities for holistic plastic waste management and recycling aligned with the circular economy and sustainable development goals. The review analyzes Indian plastic waste data, focusing on production, consumption, and waste generation, and highlights critical issues such as reverse supply chain, effective management, source‑specific recovery, and regulatory rules.

Abstract

Plastic waste (PW) is one of the most rapid-growing waste streams in municipal solid waste all over the world. India has become a global player in the plastic value chain. Despite low consumption, domestic generation and imports create a significant burden on the overall waste management system, which requires in-depth understanding of the scenario and pathways that can mitigate the crisis. Although Indian researchers have widely researched technology-related issues in academic papers, a substantial knowledge gap exists in understanding the problem’s depth and possible solutions. This review article focuses on current plastic production, consumption, and waste generation in India. This review article mainly analyzes data and information regarding Indian PW management and highlights some critical issues such as reverse supply chain, effective PW management, source-specific recovery, and PW rules in India. Comprehensively, this review will help to identify implementable strategies for policymakers and research opportunities for future researchers in holistic PW management and recycling in India, focusing on the circular economy and sustainable development goals.