Greenpeace urges FMCG firms to commit to 100 pc waste recycling

On the eve of the World Environment Day, Greenpeace today urged Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies to take a "hard look" at their production of plastics and commit to "100 per cent recycling" of their waste.

India is the global host to World Environment Day this year, with the theme being 'beat plastic pollution'.

Greenpeace India in a statement sent a strong message to the retailers and FMCG manufacturers, and urged them to "take responsibility for the trash they produce".

"Greenpeace is calling on companies and manufacturers to take a hard look at their production of plastics and commit to 100 percent recycling of their waste," it said in a statement.

The government, it said, needs to hold corporations accountable under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws.

"The packaging industry is one of the major producers of plastic. Single-use plastics -- such as PET bottles, caps, food wrappers and plastic bags -- produced in FMCG and retail, are four of the top five pollutants in the ocean, as per the International Coastal Clean Up report released last year," the NGO said.

"With a staggering figure of 24,940 tonnes plastic waste produced in India per day, it's more than urgent to rethink our use and dependency on single-use plastics. Plastics, which are considered non-biodegradable have the potential to destroy our ecology. Single-use plastics are always going to be throwaway plastic, regardless of whether a company is able to recycle a percentage of them," Diya Deb, Campaign Director, Greenpeace India, said.