Plastics industry in India grows 20% annually

The size of India's plastics industry may touch Rs 1.7 lakh crore by 2015 on account of rising consumption of the material for producing various goods, according to an Assocham study. At present, the Rs 1.02 lakh crore sector is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 20%.

"The plastics industry is expected to touch Rs 1.7 lakh crore level on the back of multiple factors like increasing demand for the material in production of goods and its usage in packaging of various items," it said.

The demand for plastics is also likely to double to about 20 million metric tonnes (MMT) by 2015 from the current level of about 10 MMT, Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said. Further, the study said the total consumption of plastics in India is about 4 million tonnes and the waste produced is about two million tonnes.  It is estimated that about 10,000 tonnes per day (TPD) of plastics waste is generated i.e. 9% of 1.2 lakhs TPD of municipal solid waste (MSW) in India. 

The plastics waste constitutes two major category of plastics -- thermoplastics and thermoset plastics.  Thermoplastics, which contribute about 80 per cent of the total post-consumer plastics waste generated in India, are recyclable plastics, while thermoset plastics account for the remaining 20%, it said.

The study said India has the highest rate of plastic recycling of 60%, followed by South Africa at 16%,  Japan at 12%, China at 10%, USA at 10% and Europe at 7%.  It said that considering the rising demand for plastics, more emphasis must be laid on recycling of waste plastics and use of recycled plastic or its mixture with virgin plastic for manufacturing plastic articles.