Hyderabad / New Delhi, May 17 (Bureau) Professor Shishir Sinha, Director General of the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET) under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India, has stated that India is the third largest user of plastics. In his lecture titled “Plastic Waste Management and An Overview of CIPET,” organized by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) on the occasion of “National Technology Day” here on Friday, he mentioned that India’s per capita plastic use is about 11 kg, compared to the global average of 28 kg. Given the indispensable nature of plastic in daily life, its elimination shortly is unlikely.
Consequently, he emphasized the importance of understanding the science behind plastic use and promoting the collection, segregation, and recycling of plastic waste. Prof Sinha reiterated the significance of the three “E”s—environment, energy, and economics—in the sustainable reuse, recycling, and recovery of plastic. He stated that current technologies enable about 60 percent recovery of plastic waste, and improving these technologies to make them sustainable in terms of the three “E”s could potentially allow for 100 percent recovery. In this context, Prof Sinha provided a detailed overview of CIPET’s work, including its multiple initiatives and plans to establish four waste management centers in Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Bhagalpur.
He also highlighted CIPET’s skill development programs aimed at training about 20,000 people in waste segregation by 2025. Additionally, CIPET’s R&D centers are focusing on technologies for managing e-waste and biomedical waste. Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr. D. Srinivasa Reddy, Director of CSIR-IICT, spoke extensively about the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and IICT’s contributions and diverse research capabilities. He emphasized that CSIR-IICT aims to act as a bridging platform between academia, industry, and society. Later in the afternoon, Prof. Sinha and Dr. D. Srinivasa Reddy, along with the scientific teams of CSIR-IICT and CIPET, discussed various scientific aspects and potential collaborations in the near future.