Consumers Beware: Ensure sustainable choices are available, affordable

As the climate crisis deepens, severe air pollution reduces life spans, microplastics invade land, sea, air, the food chain and almost every part of the human body, countries around the world are incorporating policies and practices that minimise environmental degradation and its life-threatening consequences.

This transition to sustainability also requires consumers to make conscious decisions that bring about drastic changes in the way they live, purchase and consume. On World Consumer Rights Day (March 15) this year, Consumers International (CI), a coalition of consumer groups worldwide, urged governments and businesses to ensure that sustainable and healthy choices are more accessible, available and affordable to consumers. Emphasising the need for ‘a just transition to sustainable lifestyles’, CI called for greater protection and empowerment of consumers during this changeover. India has taken several initiatives in this direction, but much more needs to be done.

One of the biggest challenges to the environment comes from waste generation — plastic, electric and electronic. E-waste contains several neurotoxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and dioxins that leach into the environment, contaminating the air, soil and water. India’s e-waste has been going up sharply. According to the government data (December 16, 2024), India’s e-waste, pertaining to 106 types of electrical and electronic equipment, notified under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 (effective from April 1, 2023), was 17,51,236 metric tonnes in the financial year (FY) 2023-24.

As per the annual report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the e-waste generated from 21 types of electric and electronic equipment during FY 2021-22 was 16,01,155 tonnes. The capacity for annual processing was 17,22,624 tonnes, but the quantity dismantled and recycled was only 5,27,131 tonnes during the year. Under the Rules, producers have the responsibility of meeting the targets of recycling.

To reduce e-waste, consumers also need to cut down on needless purchases, besides opting for repairs rather than replacements. Planned obsolescence by manufacturers has impacted life spans and repairability of even those household goods described as ‘consumer durables’. Fortunately, consumer demand the world over for the enforcement of their ‘right to repair’ is forcing countries to enact laws upholding this right. India, too, is finalising a ‘Repairability Index’ for mobile and electronics industry, aimed at increasing the longevity and repairability of these products.

Inefficiencies of service providers and civic authorities also have the potential to increase e-waste exponentially, and this must change. Poor quality of power supply, for example, results in consumers purchasing generators, uninterrupted power supply machines, besides voltage stabilisers for a variety of gadgets. They not only consume additional power, but also eventually end up in landfills. Similarly, failure to provide safe drinking water by municipalities compels consumers to purchase water purifiers, some of which also waste a lot of water during purification. The increasing consumption of bottled water, creating a huge plastic waste, is also on account of this failure. Cycling and walking are two ways in which consumers can reduce their carbon footprint, but here again, poor pavements and lack of cycle lanes discourage such activities.

But the biggest challenge to sustainability and circularity comes from the ubiquitous plastic, particularly plastic carry bags and water bottles that dot our mountains, clog our drains and rivers, line our roads and pavements, threatening the health and safety of not just human beings but also other animals and aquatic life.

India’s plastic waste has been steadily going up — from 33,60,043 million tonnes per annum in FY 2018-19 to 41,36,188 million tonnes in FY 2022-23, according to government data (December 2024).

In a bid to contain the menace, the environment ministry notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules 2021, prohibiting identified single use plastic items, including plastic bags with thickness less than 120 microns, plastic straws, plates, cups, cutlery, etc. However, these banned items continue to be in use in the market.

While roadside vendors and small shops use prohibited bags in the absence of cheap alternatives, larger stores have been forcing consumers to pay for the ban, with costs for carry bags ranging from Rs 7 to Rs 30 depending on the material. Consumer courts around the country have directed stores to refund the amount and pay compensation, but the practice continues, in the absence of effective government intervention.

Plastic used for packaging, including rigid plastic used by the fast-moving consumer goods sector, flexible packaging used for packing a variety of goods and foods, multi-layer packaging, small pouches (sachets), all constitute an estimated 43-59 per cent of India’s plastic waste. The Guidelines on Extended Producer Responsibility for Plastic Packaging, issued under the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2022, mandate producers, importers and brand owners to collect, segregate and process the waste. But, here again, implementation is slack and there is lack of transparency and accountability vis-a-vis the quantity of plastic produced and recycled, particularly in respect of flexible plastic.

As per the CPCB annual report, in FY 2021-22, the estimated plastic waste generation was 39,01,780 tonnes per annum and the recycling capacity was only 9,35,290 tonnes per annum, besides co-processing capacity of 2,37,119 tonnes.

Organic food is another area where increased consumer preference can bring down the use of extremely harmful pesticides and chemical fertilisers leaching into soil, water and our foods, affecting our health and longevity. However, the high cost of such foods is a deterrent, and this is where government intervention is needed to bring down their costs and ensure the authenticity of organic claims.

Consumers must take to sustainable lifestyles, but that can only happen with abundant help from the government in terms of not just laws and regulations, but their stringent enforcement to ensure that businesses take responsibility for circularity.

— The writer is a consumer rights and safety expert