Today is World Environment Day, and this year the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is celebrating it on the theme #BeatPlasticPollution.
The reason for choosing this theme by UNEP is to address one of the most challenging environmental crises on Earth.
Be it the Global South or the Global North, plastic pollution is affecting every corner of the Earth. From deserted forests to ocean trenches, the statistics are extremely frightening and demand immediate action.
The Plastic Problem: Alarming Global Statistics
Earth.org’s latest shocking reports are that 400 million tons of plastic waste is being generated by humans every year on this earth, and the shocking and sad fact is that 60% of it ends up in the natural environment or landfills.
This is not only polluting our ecosystem but has also posed a serious threat to biodiversity.
What is even more worrying is that 8 million tons of plastic waste are being dumped in our oceans every year, which is making about 40% of the ocean surface poisonous.
It is important to know where India stands in this.
A report by Down to Earth in September 2024 says that India has become the largest plastic pollution generator globally.
According to the data, 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste are being generated in our country every year.
According to research published in the prestigious international science journal Nature, 20% of the world’s countries together contribute about 69 per cent of the total plastic waste.
This amount is 35.5 metric tonnes per year of the world’s total plastic waste emissions.
These countries also include countries ranging from the low-income to the upper-middle-income range. This figure points to the complex socio-economic structure of plastic pollution.
However, an astonishing fact is that high-income countries generate more plastic waste per capita, but they do not even come in the top 90 countries producing plastic waste.
This is because they have an effective ecosystem to deal with it. For example, there is 100% collection coverage and controlled disposal methods with an excellent structure.
Innovative Tech: AI Fighting Plastic Pollution
In today’s time, when Artificial Intelligence is affecting every sphere of our lives, it is very important to know about its transformative work towards plastic waste elimination.
Because this will determine its condition and direction. A great tool working in this direction is Google’s Circular Net.
This AI-equipped tool has been developed in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
CircularNet is helping at the organisational level to deal with plastic waste by accessing machine learning, satellite imagery, and open data. For example, it identifies plastic pollution hotspots through mapping, helps in tracking plastic production, use and disposal.
Apart from this, it helps in streamlining various strategies related to plastic waste management.
This technology is especially helping governments, researchers and non-governmental organisations, etc.
This technology is proving particularly useful in areas that are devoid of data, where the focus is on recycling or reusing plastic rather than discarding it.
The Challenge Of Plastic Disposal & Scientific Aspect
If we understand its scientific aspect, the presence of plastic in the environment is due to its chemical structure. It can take up to 500 years to decompose.
Unlike other organic substances, plastic has strong chemical bonds that do not allow it to decompose naturally.
The methods usually adopted for disposal, such as landfilling or incineration, have proven to be extremely harmful to the environment.
This is the reason why scientists are ultimately forced to adopt alternative solutions, and artificial intelligence is playing the role of a pioneer in this work.
This is where AI has come forward in a revolutionary role. For example, a success story of a French company can be understood.
A French company named Carbios has developed enzymatic depolymerisation to break down PET plastic into its original building blocks.
Artificial intelligence simulations and experiments have played an important role in this.
Artificial Intelligence is also helping companies like Amazon, the world’s giant, to deliver goods using eco-friendly technology.
Amazon has long been taking the help of Artificial Intelligence to minimise the use of plastic in its packaging and its carbon footprint.
India’s AI-Driven Waste Management Success
Amidst all this, it is also important to know how far India’s progress has reached.
Hyderabad-based startup Recykal in India has done meaningful work in this direction by partnering with Google. For this, it has partnered with Google’s Circularnet.
Circularnet is helping in waste sorting and recycling in partnership.
The speciality of this AI tool is that it successfully identifies different types of waste, like plastic and metal and ensures their clean separation and high-quality recycling process.
This has increased the quality of recyclable waste by 60%. This has directly increased its value by 6 times.
The most positive fact is that 50,000 tons of waste are being removed from the landfill every month. This example proves that the use of artificial intelligence in the right direction can give India a clean and sustainable future.
Technology Alone Isn’t Enough
Despite these innovative uses of Artificial Intelligence and technological advancement, it has its limitations. It cannot tackle the plastic crisis alone.
The overall scenario of plastic pollution is so huge that it has been predicted by scientists that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.
In fact, to tackle plastic pollution, we have to minimise its production and change our personal habits related to its consumption. Because in the words of Mahatma Gandhi:
‘Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.’
BY: VISHAL SHUKLA
The author is a UNESCO and Russian Embassy Awardee, a former EJN Fellow, and currently works for WCS, USA.
Also Read: Rajasthan’s Khichan And Menar Declared New Ramsar Sites Ahead Of World Environment Day
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