Inside the labyrinth of plastic waste handling in Bengaluru

Bengaluru grapples with many challenges in handling plastic waste, including infrastructure and a lack of clarity over who must manage what

The subdued celebrations of World Environment Day, whose theme this year is beating plastic pollution, are also a pointer towards where things have been headed for some time now.

Bengaluru was ahead of its time in banning single-use plastic in 2016, whereas the rest of the country banned it in 2021. Hundreds of volunteers in various wards worked towards enforcing this ban by educating the public about alternatives, while Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials conducted raids periodically and kept the fear of enforcement and fines alive among manufacturers and sellers.

Cut to 2025. Seema Sharma, a resident of Bellanduru who was on the ground as a volunteer to raise awareness, says she has given up.

“We have given up because we spent our personal time and got involved, but things are back to square one now. When that is not happening, it discourages volunteers,” she adds. She sees a lack of dedication and willpower among the local body officials to enforce the ban.

“Earlier, marshals and health inspectors used to raid manufacturing units and shops and fine those who were found using single-use plastic. They would carry the seized materials in trucks and dispose of them. Now I don’t see that happening,” she says. 

“We are now doing what we can at a personal level,” she says. She now engages in collecting and giving the paper bags that door delivery apps use to nearby street vendors. She adds that the BBMP can’t depend on volunteers full-time, and it needs its own staff and infrastructure to manage things effectively.

A multilayered problem

Thus, enforcement of the ban is practically absent, with both the manufacturing and sale of single-use plastics being rampant, and no one bats an eyelid. The nature of waste in Bengaluru has changed over the years, with newer types of plastic waste becoming more prevalent.

“Plastic waste now is mostly empty packets, food packaging, and food delivery containers. Our data show that most of the waste consists of multilayer plastics (MLP). These cannot be recycled. This is of little value to waste pickers,” says Bianca, IEC Manager and policy advocate at the city-based nongovernmental organisation Hasiru Dala that works with waste pickers, through dry waste collection centres (DWCCs).

“Out of the plastic that comes into DWCCs, only 40% is recycled. This is because the waste is not segregated correctly at the source. People put food containers with leftovers directly into the dustbin. By the time it reaches the dry waste collection centre, it gets rotten and develops maggots,” she narrates.

“Recyclers refuse to accept such waste. They need clean, dry plastic for recycling. There is no infrastructure in DWCCs to clean such things scientifically. This ultimately ends up in the mixed waste and is sent to either the waste-to-energy plant or the landfill,” she explains the consequence.

Vijaykumar, president of Karnataka State Polymer Association, is also a consultant to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board on plastic waste management. He agrees that plastic containers carrying leftover food are a significant problem.

“A pourakarmika will find it so difficult to handle it as it will be dirty. This cannot be recycled unless the recycler has a facility for chemical recycling. The containers will contain oil, fat, and other organic ingredients; they require scientific cleaning and drying. There is no infrastructure for it. We do not have any designated recycling clusters across Bengaluru city. Only 20-30% of plastic waste is recycled in the city,” says Vijayakumar.

“The recyclers in South and West Bengaluru, such as Nayandahalli, Kumbalagaodu and Bidadi, are all small-scale, unorganised and unregistered. They lack the capital to establish dedicated effluent treatment plants. You cannot expect a recycler who puts in Rs 10 lakh to set up his business to install a Rs 50 lakh worth ETP,” he explains.

Whose job is it anyway?

Bianca explains that, according to the Hasirudala MOU with BBMP, which is no longer in force, MLP was to be managed by BBMP and would typically be sent to cement kilns. In 2018-19, cement kilns used to pay for transportation and take it. Now they are not paying for it, and waste pickers have to do it, she explains. Even if the MLP waste goes to the waste-to-energy plant, the waste pickers have to bear the transportation costs, she adds.

“We send as much plastic waste as possible to recycling. However, the current waste tender has nothing to do with waste workers. The BSWML has stated that only 25% of dry waste will be sent to us. Suppose the contractors collect and sell only high-value waste plastic and send us only low-value materials. In that case, we cannot make a living using it,” explains Mansoor, a DWCC operator associated with Hasirudala working in Jayanagar.

“We are even willing to conduct door-to-door collections if entrusted to us. Now, the Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) is saying they will not let us down, but there is nothing on paper to ensure that waste pickers will be integrated into the system. We need an official letter from the government to ensure we can speak to people without fear,” he adds. 

Hasirudala alone works with more than 3500 waste pickers, while the overall number of waste workers who depend on high-value plastic and scrap material is higher. Now, everyone in the waste collection chain, including auto drivers and pourakarmikas, wants the high-value plastic, but the low-value plastic waste is left with no takers.

“The BBMP has been unable to tackle plastic waste effectively because it lacks sufficient staff, infrastructure, and funds. Bengaluru is expanding with the passage of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill. Tackling overall waste and plastic waste will be a significant challenge for municipalities and village panchayats within the GBA limits,” cautions Vijayakumar.

“The manufacturers cannot be blamed for the waste, as they are catering to a need. Citizens and local bodies must be responsible for managing it wisely. The government lacks a dedicated department to address this issue,” he adds.

Producer responsibility: Extended but not implemented properly

“MLP is the largest category of packaging material globally, whether we want it or not. Recycling MLPs is possible but difficult. It is covered under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework. Big brand owners have arrangements with cement kilns. The MLP goes to them as refuse-derived fuel. EPR was rolled out in India two years ago, and implementation will take some time,” says Vijayakumar.

Ramprasad, founder of Friends of Lakes and a waste management consultant, finds issues with the EPR implementation in Bengaluru. He explains that EPR has five parts: collection, aggregation, segregation, transportation and processing. 

When the MLP is given to the Bidadi WTE plant, the EPR credit is awarded to the plant for only one part —the processing part. The rest of the credit should go to whoever handles it - in our case, it is the BSWML that handles the collection, aggregation, and transportation. That part of the EPR for plastic handling should be allocated to the BSWML, and the segregation part of the EPR should be assigned to the DWCCs that handle it, he adds.

“The government spends the money collected by the public for collection, transportation, processing, etc, through garbage cess, and now through a new garbage fee that has been added to the property tax. As a consumer, the citizen also pays for the plastic packaging that comes with the products, be it a container or multilayer plastic. Ultimately, the government, hence the citizen, pays for all these things,” he explains.

“A part of this should come to the government, and the government should deduct it from the property tax,” he argues.

Officials from the BSWML and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board were unreachable for comments.