Indo-Norway Cooperation 

Plastic and chemical pollution are critical threats to our environment, and efforts to build a sustainable society. The interlinked challenges stemming from Plastic and Persistent Organic Pollutants require diverse solutions, especially ones that can penetrate the local, national and global levels. In practice, one way of achieving this goal is to identify and tackle the problem at its source. These methodologies are particularly vital in countries which lack efficient monitoring systems, waste management infrastructure and the capacity to manage plastic waste at pollution hotspots.

The India-Norway cooperation project on capacity building for reducing plastic and chemical pollution in India (INOPOL) is led by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) (Project Lead), in close collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Mu Gamma Consultants Pvt. Ltd., and a part of the India-Norway Marine Pollution Initiative. The primary goal of the project was to investigate land-based sources, social and economic drivers, river fluxes and ocean input of plastic and POPs pollution. Based on the outcomes, identify effective reduction and control measures.

As a project partner, Toxics Link hosted a stakeholder meeting on the Perspective on Chemical Management in India in Ahmedabad (Gujarat). We have developed IEC material on recently ratified seven POPs. Through the project, we were able to successfully start a dialogue on the key challenges and gaps in regulating the new POPs in India and gain the perspective of scientists/academicians, industry representatives and members of civil society. We also contributed to the baseline report which addressed challenges linked to marine litter, microplastics and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) with Gujarat as the pilot state for the study.

The phase two of the INOPOL study is slated to commence in the third quarter of 2023 which will focus on POP and plastic management in states of Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu.