The theme for this year’s World Environment Day (5 June) focused on ending plastic pollution globally. Indeed, our planet is literally drowning in plastic as production has risen exponentially and is projected to reach 445.25 million metric tonnes annually by the end of 2025. According to the UN Environment Programme, an estimated 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste leaks into aquatic ecosystems each year worldwide and also accumulates in the soil from sewage and landfills. As a result, the annual social and economic cost of plastic pollution is estimated to be between $300-600 billion USD.
Both India and Canada recognize that their countries, and the global environment, are under increasing threat from plastic pollution and waste. In response, they have sought to ban harmful single-use plastics, invest in and develop innovative solutions to reuse plastic products, create the conditions for a circular plastic economy and envision a zero-plastic waste future. However, as will be discussed, much remains to be done to achieve the ambitious goals set out by both countries. Indeed, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the 2025 G7 Summit in Alberta this week, now could be the time to kick-start the 2022 Canada-India Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase bilateral cooperation on climate action, environmental protection and conservation.
Plastic permeation a health concern
Over the past four decades, global plastic waste generation has grown more than seven-fold to 360 million metric tonnes per year. Consequently, plastic pollution has spread to every corner of the globe, contaminating the water we drink, the food we eat, and ultimately seeping into our bodies.
Plastic often breaks down into tiny fragments called microplastics and nanoplastics, below 5 millimetres, which can infiltrate the human body, including the brain. Studies have also detected plastic shards in lungs, maternal and foetal placental tissues, blood streams, livers, kidneys, breast milk and the cerebellum, the part of the brain that helps with movement and balance plus cognitive functions.
In fact, every person on earth is estimated to consume over 50,000 plastic particles annually, and inhale a similar quantity. Furthermore, hundreds of marine and coastal species are also affected by plastic pollution through ingestion, entanglement and other risk factors.
India the biggest plastic polluter
India’s war against plastic pollution dates back to the 1990s. Between 2016-2024, the country enacted a series of progressive laws for promoting eco-friendly growth, improving accountability and ensuring efficient waste management. The rules mandated a ban on single-use plastics, segregation of waste at the source whereby all generators separate their bio-degradable, non-degradable and hazardous wastes before collection, promoting recycling and re-use and making companies responsible for collecting wastes generated from their products.
And yet, a study by the University of Leeds conducted in 2024 found that India has surpassed Nigeria, Indonesia and even China to become the world’s largest contributor to plastic pollution. Published in Nature, the study revealed that India produces an astonishing 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, accounting for one fifth of global plastic waste. The bulk of this comes from household consumption, which includes 120 million plastic milk pouches on a daily basis, and annually, 8.68 billion instant noodles packets, 26.8 billion plastic detergent packets and 3.3 billion plastic cooking oil pouches.
UK scientists have also painted a grim picture of India burning about 5.8 million tonnes of plastic each year, releasing another 3.5 million tonnes into the environment. If left unchecked, India could end up producing 165 million tonnes of general waste, including plastic waste, annually by 2030.
India’s waste management flaws
The spike in India’s share of global plastic pollution has its roots in the country’s waste management system, replete with numerous gaps, including:
1. Data inaccuracy due to a lack of waste management infrastructure in rural areas, continued open burning and the informal waste picker sector not properly documented in official waste statistics. Furthermore, there is no uniform waste audit methodology or third-party validation for the whole of India. The fact is much of India’s plastic recycling effort today is dependent on informal waste pickers who are at the heart of the country’s waste management ecosystem. Indeed, more than 1.5 million waste pickers collect and sort recyclables across cities and towns to sustain their livelihood. In the process, they divert tonnes of waste from landfills, contributing to around 70 percent of the total plastic recycling capacity in India.
2. A lack of infrastructure with India having a 10-to-1 ratio of plastic dump sites compared to sanitary landfills, the latter which provide a designated area for the safe disposal of non-recyclable refuse. Lesser landfills point to a vast majority of the country’s plastic waste being disposed out in the open, thus exacerbating the level of pollution. In addition, ground infrastructure for collection, segregation and disposal remains patchy.
3. A culture of non-compliance with India’s Supreme Court noting on numerous occasions that government introduced schemes have failed to deliver due to lax enforcement. For instance, 43 percent of India’s plastic waste is still composed of single-use items, sold widely despite a 2022 ban.
Canada’s plastic ordeal
Plastic production is a $35 billion industry in Canada, employing around 100,000 people in 2,000 businesses engaged in manufacturing and recycling plastic products. Canada is also one of the largest producers of plastic waste per capita, generating two to four times more plastic pollution per person than the global average. Canadians also throw away over three million tonnes of plastic waste from homes and businesses every year. Furthermore, the 2022 ban on single-use plastics (The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations – SUPPR) was declared invalid in November 2023 by a Federal Court judge. On the other hand, while the Government appeals the decision the SUPPR remains in effect, continuing to prohibit specific single-use plastics.
Ottawa has set a goal to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030, aiming to keep all plastic waste out of the environment and in circular use within the economy. Accordingly, the federal, provincial and territorial Environment Ministers are working towards implementing the 2022 Canada-Wide Action Plan on Zero Plastic Waste to encourage durable and reusable solutions that will lead to a circular plastic economy. The Canadian government is also implementing a Federal Plastics Registry to guarantee transparency in data disclosure and facilitate the nationwide harmonization of extended producer responsibility policies. Canada also pioneered the Ocean Plastics Charter to address marine plastic litter during its G7 presidency in 2018 under Prime Minister Trudeau’s leadership. Mark Carney, his successor and a seasoned climate advocate, is also expected to give a solid push to the zero plastic waste agenda through multilateral cooperation.
Zero plastic waste – synergizing India and Canada’s agenda
India’s battle against plastic waste, and its pursuit of a circular economy where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated, remains at a critical stage. With a plastic industry worth INR 3938 billion, the country is expected to consume 70.5 million tonnes of plastic annually by 2035. If India’s plastic recycling capacity is not augmented, only 11 percent will be recycled. In real terms it amounts to 9 out of every 10 plastic items leaking into the environment.
Significantly, India’s mounting plastic waste crisis is being dealt with at the formal and informal level simultaneously – using the power of technology and the spirited commitment of manual labour. A leading Indian brand Hindustan Unilever plans to collect more than 100 percent of the plastic waste generated by its products by the end of this year. They also propose developing alternative materials from the recycled content that have less environmental impact.
Additionally, many start-ups are using unique solutions to build an economy built on trash. Their recycled plastic products include stretch wraps, industrial liner bags used for packaging, automobile dashboards and other interior elements. India’s largest public sector oil company Indian Oil also announced in 2023 their aim to recycle 100 million discarded plastic bottles annually and turn the results into cloth for eco-friendly uniforms for its ground staff and non-combatant military personnel. Path breaking innovations like zero-waste grocery stores also offer a glimmer of hope in India’s plastic riddled environment. Elsewhere, waste pickers, skilled at identifying recyclable waste, are helping to power the circular economy.
Canada, for its part, is also focussing on unique innovation techniques to address plastic waste. They include using Artificial Intelligence to enhance recycling accuracy and minimizing waste, promoting recyclable aluminium water bottles to reduce single-use plastics, transforming plastic waste into furniture, enhancing waste diversion through technology, and using data and waste audit to streamline waste management. In 2024, Canada’s government also provided $3.3 million in funding to support domestic organizations engaged in developing innovative solutions related to plastic pollution. The idea is to find better ways for reusing, remanufacturing or recycling plastics.
Fostering a safer environment through collaboration
A survey commissioned by the environmental charity Environmental Defence and conducted by Abacus Research between 14-16 April 2025 found that 86 percent of Canadians want their government to step in and stop plastic pollution at home and abroad in collaboration with international allies. But, in the absence of a global consensus on curbing fossil fuel-based plastic production, innovation is the key to shifting from a linear, take-make-dispose model to a circular one where resources are used more efficiently and waste minimized.
India and Canada, as previously noted, are tied together by a 2022 MOU focusing on environmental protection and climate action, and this could be the time for both to pool their talents and resources for joint research and development that would promote a major shift to circular, biologically integrated economies. Indeed, the MOU notes that “Canada has several proven clean technologies which could be of interest to India, such as water and waste management systems, clean hydrogen, smart grids, and energy storage.”
Certainly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a sustainability champion, having attended parliament in 2023 wearing a jacket made from recycled plastic bottles. As mentioned earlier, with his attendance at the G7 Summit along with the organizers commitment to achieve zero waste, now could be a very good time revisit the MOU with a view to expanding bilateral cooperation on climate action, environmental protection and conservation.
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