Economics and environmental impacts of plastic waste recycling: A case study of Mumbai

The plastic waste (PW) recycling industry in Mumbai was studied to assess the PW stream, recycling activities, economic details of the industry and its impact on the environment. Senior personnel of the local municipality were interviewed for necessary data collection. Also, a total of 179 scrap dealers and recyclers and 35 waste pickers were surveyed within the city limits. A scale was designed to ascertain the environmental impact of PW recycling activities. Results indicate that the PW chain in Mumbai is very complicated, with five alternate routes of reaching the recycler. The PW recycling industry is almost completely informal, with 89.3% of the surveyed units being unlicensed or illegally sub-let. About 700 million tons per day (MTPD) PW is generated, of which almost all is collected for recycling by an estimated 150,000 waste pickers. Environmental impact of 63.2% of the surveyed units was medium. Average cost of pelletizing plastic was INR 22.2/kg (range INR 12-38) while the average selling price was INR 58.6/kg (range INR 35-77). The cost was found to depend upon how soon the PW was extracted from the waste stream. It is strongly recommended that the Mumbai Municipality simplifies the PW stream, at least semi-formalizing the system.