To,

Ministry of environment, forest and climate change

We have started this petition to request you to make recycling accessible to all the citizens by investing to build more recycling centres.

Almost 15000 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage remains exposed every day. Out of the 5.4 crore MT of waste generated annually, 4.5 crore MT remains unprocessed, contributing to already overflowing landfills. India is getting buried under its own waste due to the complete lack of waste management techniques.

1. Overflowing landfills are a serious threat to everyone: They pose health hazards due to them being a storehouse for viruses and bacteria, causing cardiovascular and lung vascular diseases. Air pollution increases due to trash burning triggered by the emission of methane gas. India is already suffering a water crisis where millions of people don’t have access to safe drinking water. Overflowing landfills exacerbate that as solid waste seeps into underground and contaminates water.
2. Plastic pollution is dangerous to human health:  The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year. Toxic chemicals leach out of plastic and are found in the blood and tissue of nearly all of us. Exposure to them is linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments.
   We eat plastic contaminated sea-food. Scientists have found microplastics in 114 marine species, and almost one-third of these end up on our plates. Some of the chemicals added to plastic to increase its performance are considered endocrine disruptors – chemicals that affect normal hormone function – while some retardants may interfere with brain development in children.
3. Plastic pollution is dangerous to the animal kingdom: Land animals mistake plastic for food and this might lead to them dying due to choking. Plastic is killing more than 1.1 million seabirds and animals every year. Animals are infected with diseases since landfills serve as a breeding ground for pathogens and animals usually are exposed to these since they go to the landfills for food.

The urgency to manage our waste better might be evident now. By establishing more recycling centres and making them accessible to the citizens, we will manage to incentivize waste segregation- the importance of which the prime minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi has also emphasised. 

Plastic pollution is forever, and this is just the first of many steps in order to reduce it.

At this point, it is a fight for our survival. Help us make recycling more accessible to the people of India by signing this petition. Recycling is the first step in our fight against Plastic. Let's urge our Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change to manage our waste better and to enforce stricter waste management rules and ensure their implementation. 

Yours truly,

Ayesha and Tanisha.

(Climate Front India)