Floods in Mumbai, wake up call for waste management

The WhatPackaging? team witnessed vehicles stranded on roads in Lower Parel, Dadar, Kurla, Andheri, Khar West, Ghatkopar, Sion and Hindmata areas due to waist deep water. As the rainwater receded what remained was garbage on the streets and highways, 28,000 workers and staff members from the BMC’s Solid Waste Management department spent most of Wednesday and Thursday cleaning up the sludge.

The Municipal Commissioner of BMC, Ajoy Mehta said the cleaning operation was underway by a team of 28,000 workers and staff members.

By the end of the day, 9,600 metric tonnes of garbage had been picked up and sent to dumping grounds. The amount included the daily average of 7,500 metric tonnes of waste - mostly plastic - generated by the city.

Mumbai's daily output is 7,500 metric tonnes and in half a day, because of the heavy rain, 1,500 metric tonne of solid waste had been collected from the roads on Tuesday and 300 tonnes. An additional 300 tonnes of waste was collected from the beaches and cumulatively, 9,600 tonnes of garbage was despatched to the three dumping grounds in the city.

The garbage comprised thermocol, plastic bags and wrappers.

“Usually, a 2 km stretch in three hours. Today, it has taken us over four hours. There is a lot of plastic stuck on the roads,” said a BMC worker.

One of the biggest culprits was gutkha. Even today, the gutkha industry goes under-reported. Gutkha constitutes about 35-40% of the flexible packaging market.

On the cusp of the century, 17 years ago, a typical Mumbai kirana store offered 500 items of which less than 30% used to be packaged goods. Now, 70% of the products in a kirana store and almost all items in a supermarket boast of a robust, eye-catching packaging.

More than two-third of the products on supermarket shelves are protected by flexible packaging. While plastics comprise 42% of the total packaging material pie for the Indian market, about 50% of this is flexible plastic packaging. According to a report prepared by FICCI and Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG) titled, Plastic Packaging: The Sustainable Choice, flexible packaging in India is expected to grow annually at 25 percent, by far the fastest growing packaging segment.

While all this is exciting, discarded plastic packaging is one of the most daunting challenges that we face today. According to the 2013 estimate by the Central Pollution Control Board, 15,342 tonnes of plastic waste is generated in India daily. While 60% of this waste is recycled, we are still left with 6,100 tonnes of plastic that end up polluting the environment.

One of the key initiatives of the Indian government which is addressing this issue is the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, which include imposing the Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) on manufacturers, brand owners and importers. Sensing the administration’s seriousness of the initiative and realising their social responsibility, FMCG companies are gearing up to use sustainable packaging for their products. In turn, packaging suppliers can be seen looking for innovations that can make packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable.

The floods in Mumbai are a wake-up call for the plastic packaging industry. Will we?