India, Aug. 12 -- A new CSE study finds a stark mismatch between India's plastic waste management costs and funds raised through Extended Producer Responsibility.

Municipalities and informal workers are left bearing much of the burden, especially for flexible and multi-layered packaging.

The report urges reforms such as weighted EPR rates and localised obligations so producers truly pay under the polluter-pays principle.

Who pays for the plastic waste generated by products that are sold in our markets? India produces about 158,619 tonne of municipal solid waste every day, of which an estimated 10-12 per cent is plastic waste - nearly 19,000 tonne per day. A significant share of this is plastic packaging, which has a short shelf life, a...