The Plastic Industry's Playbook: Parallels with Tobacco and the Impact on India
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Environment (Plastic Pollution, Plastic Waste Management Rules, Extended Producer Responsibility - EPR, Global Plastics Treaty), Governance (NAMASTE scheme), Economy (Informal Sector, Global South).
Mains:
GS Paper 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.
GS Paper 4 (Ethics): Corporate Governance; Ethical issues; Probity in Governance. (The tactics of misleading the public and shifting blame are classic corporate ethics issues).
Key Highlights from the News
The tobacco industry's tactics to hide the harms of its products are being used by the plastic industry, environmental activists argue.
Key tactics include:
Shifting Responsibility to Consumers: Blaming consumers for not recycling.
Misleading Science and Propaganda: Promoting recycling as a complete solution, while privately knowing it's not practical.
Greenwashing: Using labels like 'biodegradable' and 'compostable' to mislead consumers into thinking products are environmentally friendly.
As laws tighten in developed countries, plastic manufacturers target Global South countries in Asia and Africa as new markets.
Fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbies are trying to influence discussions for a global plastics treaty to end plastic pollution.
India's waste management system heavily relies on millions of workers in the informal sector, who often lack social security or healthcare.
The NAMASTE scheme aims to bring waste collection workers into the formal system.
Under Plastic Waste Management Rules, producers are responsible for the waste generated by their products.
COMMENTS