Cover Issue Story
How to end the plastic kingdom
The dismal global recycling statistics do make us wonder whether we will ever efficiently adopt 100 per cent recycling of plastics . A more fundamental solution is to switch to variants from biodegradable sources like wood , corn starch and sugarcane
� Kota Sriraj
Plastics have for long been associated as an environmental contaminant . Slowly but irretrievably , rampant use of this material is adversely impacting the climate system . This is apparent from the fact that our once pristine habitat and fragile ecology , the flora and fauna , are getting increasingly eroded . The damaging impact is clear not only on land but also on the oceans . Newly published research calculates that across their life cycle , plastics account for 3.8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions .
That ’ s almost double the emissions of the aviation sector . If it were a country , the “ Plastic Kingdom ” would be the fifthhighest emitter in the world . Insatiable demand for plastic is fuelling the almost endless pursuit to procure all things made out of it and the bad news is that this
30 Legacy India | June 2019 www . legacyindia . in