‘Extremely serious’: India tops global plastic waste emissions with 9.3 million tonnes, study shows

India is now the world’s biggest plastic polluter, responsible for nearly one-fifth of global plastic emissions, according to a new global study highlighting the growing environmental crisis in the world’s most populous country.

Experts warn that the country’s lack of infrastructure for proper waste collection and management is a primary cause of the plastic crisis and, despite attempts at regulation, policies remain fragmented and difficult to enforce.

The study, published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday by researchers from Britain’s University of Leeds, found that of the 50.2 million metric tonnes of plastic emitted into the environment annually, India accounted for about 9.3 million tonnes.

The researchers behind the study, which provides a comprehensive analysis of global macroplastic pollution, suggest that India’s contribution to plastic emissions may still be an underestimated figure.

“The numbers represent a significant portion of the material generated in India. The amount of municipal solid waste burned in India is equivalent to that of the next four biggest waste-burning nations – Indonesia, Nigeria, China and Russia,” Ed Cook, one of the researchers, told This Week in Asia.