Plastic crisis
India has its work cut out to curb pollution
Updated At : 05:59 AM Aug 19, 2025 IST
India accounts for around 20 per cent of the global plastic emissions.
Plastics are choking our planet, yet there is no global consensus on how to combat this ever-growing crisis. The collapse of the Geneva negotiations on a global plastics treaty has revealed the split wide open: a ‘high-ambition’ group of nearly 70 nations, seeking global caps on virgin plastic and controls on hazardous chemicals, is pitted against a bloc of oil/petrochemical-producing countries keen on recycling, waste management and voluntary commitments. This bloc includes India, which has the dubious distinction of being the world’s biggest plastic polluter, accounting for around 20 per cent of the global plastic emissions.
