News Excerpt:

According to a newly released Plastic Overshoot Day (POD) Report, India will release 31,483 tonnes of chemical additives from microplastics and will be the second leading polluter of waterways through this method after China (59,208 tonnes) in 2024.

Key highlights of the report:

• As many as 217 countries will release 3,153,813 tonnes of microplastics into the world’s waterways by the end of 2024.
• At least 291,071 tonnes of chemical additives will be discharged into the waterbodies, of which 40% will come from four nations — China, India, Russia and Brazil.
• Global plastics waste management has somewhat improved, but plastic waste generation has risen by 7.11% since 2021.
• The world is estimated to have generated 220 million tonnes of plastic waste this year. 
• It means that the improvements in waste management capacity are outpaced by rising plastic production. 
• So, the assumption that recycling and waste management capacity will solve the plastics crisis is flawed.
• The report was released by Swiss non-profit EA Earth Action.

What are microplastics?

• Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimetres long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life.
• The release of primary microplastics from sources such as tyre abrasion, shedding of textile fibres, pellets production and paint pollute the environment, along with improper waste disposal.
• In addition, microbeads, a type of microplastic, are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added as exfoliants to health and beauty products, such as some cleansers and toothpastes. 
• These tiny particles easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean and Great Lakes, posing a potential threat to aquatic life.

Impact of Microplastics:

• The chemical additives in the microplastics accumulate in waterbodies and have serious impacts on human health. 
• Common additives released from microplastics include heavy metals, polyamidoamine-epichlorohydrins, bisphenol A, brominated flame retardants and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
• Light, temperature and presence of other pollutants affect the release of these chemicals, which pile up and cause toxicity in bodies of animals that ingest them.
• Some of these additives cause neurotoxicity, inflammation, metabolic disorders and cancer.

Microplastic pollution in India:

• The microplastics concentration in Ganga, which forms India’s largest river basin, was found to be more than any other major world river in 2021. 
• In 2023, the Central Pollution Control Board acknowledged the presence of microplastics in India’s water bodies.
• Although the health effects of chemical additives have been acknowledged, India is attempting to reimagine the ‘life cycle of plastic’ at the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4).
• India, classified as the low waste-producing polluters, must focus on developing the domestic waste management infrastructure and invest in waste management programmes, including extended producer responsibility (EPR), recommended the 2024 POD report released ahead of INC-4.