The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) intends to triple its plastic waste management to 100 cities in India by 2024 to fight the destroying effects of plastic pollution. Across India’s many towns and cities, the lack of organised plastic waste management leads to spread littering and pollution. The UNDP programme has collected 83,000 metric tonnes of plastic waste. India generates about 3.4 million tonnes of plastic waste per year.

The UNDP is working with the federal think tank and NITI Aayog, jointly developing a handbook model for local municipalities and the private sectors. The administration needs stricter control on the dumping of plastic waste and needs to raise awareness in the households.

The programme had a delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which increased waste, medical plastic waste and hit the livelihoods of waste collectors. Plastic pollution will triple by 2040, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has predicted, saying that 23-37 million metric tons of waste are thrown into the oceans each year.