New Delhi, Dec 9 : The country is generating 41.36 lakh tonne per annum (TPA) plastic waste every year and Tamil Nadu is the largest polluter with an annual quantity of 7.82 lakh TPA, the Parliament was informed on Monday.

Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh, in a written reply, told Lok Sabha that plastic waste generation has been steadily rising in the country with Rs 33.6 lakh TPA in 2018-19, 34.69 lakh TPA in 2019-20, 41.26 lakh TPA in 2020-21, 39.01 lakh TPA in 2021-22 and 41.36 lakh TPA in 2022-23.

Telangana with 5.28 lakh TPA generation is the second largest source of plastic waste, the Minister said in reply to a question by Amar Singh.

Already struggling to tackle air and water pollution, Delhi has emerged as the third largest plastic waste generator with an annual quantity of 4.03 lakh tonne, a figure that is more than even larger states like Maharashtra (3.95 lakh TPA) and Karnataka (3.6 lakh TPA).

While the 2022-23 data for Uttar Pradesh was not available, the MoS said data that the state generated 3.75 lakh TPA plastic waste in 2021-2022.

Sharing data on plastic waste management units (PWMUs), the MoS said that there are 978 units operating in the country. Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of PWNUs at 326, followed by Andhra Pradesh 139, Bihar 102, Uttar Pradesh 68, West Bengal and Uttarakhand 51 each, Kerala 48, J&K 43 and Telangana and Himachal Pradesh 29 each.

The MoS said: 'So far as setting up of PWMUs is concerned, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) Phase II guidelines provide financial assistance of up to Rs 16 lakh per Block for construction of a unit. Additionally, depending on the requirement, PWMUs can be set up in cluster mode for more than one block within the overall funding limits available for those blocks.'

Replying to a question on the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to enhance the implementation of door-to-door plastic waste collection, the MoS said that the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 mandate local bodies and gram panchayats for collection and transportation of plastic waste.

'Guidelines have been issued under Swachh Bharat Mission for door-to-door collection of solid waste, including plastic waste for urban and rural areas of the country,' said the MoS.

The implementation of market-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Plastic Packaging, notified on February 16, 2022, by the Ministry will also strengthen the plastic waste management infrastructure in the country, including collection of plastic packaging waste, the MoS said.

/IANS