Lecture 36- Consumerism

and waste products

Dr. Rajat Saxena

SOT, PDEU
 Consumerism and waste products
Introduction
• The world is in the midst of a transition to a more
consumption oriented lifestyle.
• Population growth, greater consumption, environmental and
technological change, and increasing connectedness and
diversity are powerful trends that will continue through the
early decades of the 21st century.
• A hopeful vision for such a transition is one in which the
many more people of the next half century meet their wants
and needs in sustainable ways.
 Consumerism and waste products
Introduction
• Consumerism refers to the consumption of resources by the
people.
• While early human societies consumed much less
resources, with the dawn of industrial era, consumerism has
shown an exponential rise in the last few decades.
• It has been related both to the increase in the population
size as well as increase in our demands due to changes in
life styles.
 Consumerism and waste products
• In modern society our needs have multiplied and so
consumption of resources has also multiplied.
• The changing population trends influence ‘consumerism’ of
natural resources and generation of waste material.
• Two types of conditions of population and consumerism
exist
• i) People Over-population

• ii) Consumption Over-population

 Consumerism and waste products
People Over-population
• It occurs when there are more people than available
supplies of food, water and other important resources in an
area.
• ‘Excessive’ population pressure causes degradation of the
limited resources, and there is absolute poverty, under
nourishment and premature deaths.
• This occurs in the less developed countries
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• Here due to large number of people, adequate resources
are not available for all.
• So there is less per capita consumption although overall
consumption is high.
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Consumption Over-population
• A completely different situation prevails in the more
developed countries (MDCs).
• Here population size is on occasion small and the
resources, which are much more abundant and due to a
combination of better life styles overall high standards of
living and high levels of infrastructure, per capita
consumption of resources is very high.
 Consumerism and waste products
• The consumption of resources is positively correlated with
waste generation and the degradation of the environment
and the higher the consumption of resources the greater is
the generation of waste and environmental degradation.
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• This concept can be explained by using the model of Paul
Ehrlich and John Holdren (1972):
• Number of people x per capita use of resources x waste
generated per unit of resource used = Overall
Environmental Impact.
• This can be illustrated as I= P x A x T

• Most theorists agree that overall human pressure on the

environment is a product of three factors: population,
consumption per capita and technology
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• In every human interaction with the environment- even in
the simplest societies- the three major elements are in play.
• Consumption varies with the country and USA is known for
maximum consumerism.
• The throw away attitude and luxurious life-style of the west,
results in very high resource use as compared to less
developed countries.
• With every unit of energy, mineral or any resource used
there is waste generation and pollution in the environment
particularly in the land resources.
 Consumerism and waste products
• A comparison of USA and India can illustrate this point
more clearly

Comparison of Consumerism and Waste Generation

Parameter Percent Global Values

USA India

Population 4.70% 16%

Production of Goods 21% 1%

Energy use 25% 3%

Pollutants/wastes 25% 3%

CFC’s Production 22% 0.7%

 Consumerism and waste products
• Although the population of India is 3.4 times more than that
of USA, its overall energy use and waste generation are
less than 1/8th that of USA.
• Thus more consumerism and not population size influences
waste production.
• The IPAT formula is necessarily a simplification.

• The technology element can usually be broken down into

two separate elements: the amount of resources used to
produce each unit of consumption, and the amount of waste
or pollution generated for each unit of resources.
 Consumerism and waste products
• The impact measured in the IP AT formula may be accurate
if the formula would read: I =P x C x Tr x Tw x S.

• Tr refers to the technology of resource use

• Tw to the technology of waste management,

• S to the amount by which the environment changes in

response to a given amount o f resource extraction or
pollution.
• In practice, S is hard to quantify.
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• Changes in the environment have an impact on human
welfare.
• This is primarily as a result of:

1) Resource depletion or degradation and the resulting

shortages and scarcities;

2) Loss of a valued amenity such as natural wilderness areas

or beautiful landscapes;

3) Impacts on human health and fertility

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• In spite of the impacts exert on the environment due to the
growing human population man will adapt to his
environment.
• It can be shown as : The Pressure - State - Response
Model
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Population Pressure and the IPAT Framework
• Population-environment issues may be divided into two
categories related to their geographic scale
• Global Issues : Global warming, Ozone depletion, Loss of
biodiversity
• Regional or local Issues :Land use and carrying capacity,
Pollution, De-forestation of tropical forest, Scarcity of
freshwaters, Overuse of oceans and fisheries.
.
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• The most rapid growth in energy consumption now occurs
in developing countries, driven by both population growth
and economic development.
• The components of IPAT formula are not equally
proportionate everywhere in the world.
• While ‘A’ and ‘T’ are more prominent m developed countries
like USA, Japan etc.
• The ‘P ’ component is distinctly prominent in developing
countries like India.
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The plastics
• Synthetic plastic materials have become cogent to satisfy
the various requirements of mankind for versatile usage
ranging from simple commodities to high performance
engineering applications.
• Plastics industry officially dates its beginning in 1868 with
celluloid, the first commercial plastics were developed in
USA.
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• The second major development took place in 1909 with the
introduction of Phenol Formaldehyde.
• Further, the continued thrust in development of plastics
resulted in commercialization of cellulose acetate, polyvinyl
chloride, urea formaldehyde, PVC and nylon in the 1920s.
• The Second World War in 1940s accelerated the demand
for plastics and the period witnessed the rapid growth of
plastics which replaced many conventional materials for
numerous applications ranging from domestic to critical
engineering applications
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• Today, we have become engulfed with plastics products
and materials, which have become the most attractive
options for varied applications in every facet of human life.
• Plastics have become part and parcel of our daily routine.

• Plastic buckets have replaced aluminium ones, plastic

chairs have replaced wooden and steel ones, plastic cups
and plates have taken over from stainless steel tumblers
and plates and ceramic crockery.
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• The advantages of the use of ‘plastics’ are

I. unique material due to its inherent superiority over

conventional materials,

II. Protect deforestation, conserve natural resources,

III.Save energy & fuel (oil since conversion cost is quite less)
and

IV.Recyclable.
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• Inspite of these advantages the apprehension towards
plastics waste as an environmental problem in today’s
society has placed tremendous pressure on plastics users.
• The undisciplined and indiscriminate management system
of all types of municipal solid waste and industrial waste is
one of the major causes for concern in India.
• The improper and ineffective plastic waste management
system has led to the plight of litter and plastics have been
targeted as a sole element responsible for it.
 Consumerism and waste products
• The main problem is lack of awareness and education of the
society for the environmental problems of the plastics waste.
• The following issues are related to the environmental
degradation by plastics-

I. littering of plastics due to uncontrolled ‘waste throw away’

culture in India,

II. improper waste management system in India,

III.recycling of plastics waste by crude, unsystematic and non

scientific methods,
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iv. unhealthy competition (cost war) for supply of cheapest
products,

v. plastic carry bags being used as packaging material to carry

organic/biological waste/garbage; and for throwing into
waste collector containers/bins.
• Plastic waste is more visible in public places because of the
indisciplined habits of people littering plastic waste
everywhere.
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• Though average consumption of plastics in our country is
only 3.8 kg per capita compared to around 100 kg in the
developed countries, even then waste is more visible in our
country because of poor waste management.
• The Indian Centre for Plastics in Environment (ICPE) has
been propagating the fact that the “real problem of pollution
in the environment is not with the use of plastics, but due to
the undistinguishing means of plastics waste management
and uncontrolled, free litter in the country.”
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• The versatile applications of plastics are

• HDPE: dustbins, bottles, pipes

• LDPE: bags/sacks, bin liners, detergent bottles

• PP (polypropylene) : food wrappings, garden fixture, crates,

telephone/car bumpers
• Polystyrene: food containers, computers, video cassettes

• PVC: blood bags, credit cards, window frames

• PET: fizzy drinks bottles

• Polyurethane: upholstery, sports shoe soles

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• Acrylics: sink/bathtubs & tap tops, protective glasses e.g.
Perspex
• Polycarbonates: compact discs (CDs), car head lights,
firemen’s helmets.
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Plastics Products and Related Problems on Land and
Environment
• Plastic packaging is a major source of litter.

• The Government has no proper arrangement in public

places for the storage of used plastic materials.
• The public are not aware about the consequences of plastic
materials, the free throw-away culture have developed in
societies creating the litter problem.
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• Due to the dumping of all types of plastic waste by the
public into open roads, fields, drains, sewers, etc.
• These lead to blockage of drains, particularly during the
rainy season.
• It creates temporary water logging conditions and affects
the land and environment.
• When large amount of plastics are mixed with soil, they
affect the growth of earthworms in the soil and it reduces
the soil fertility.
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• As these are not easily biodegradable, it becomes alarming
problem for municipal authorities of Indian towns.

• Plastics emit carbon-dioxide (CO2) gas when burnt and this

causes air pollution.
• As these polythene carry bags are cheap and hardly reused
by consumers and they are ultimately thrown away at
almost all places, these directly cause land degradation.