Marking World Environment Day 2025, the United Nations in India on Thursday launched a Plastic Pollution Literacy Kit—a digital educational tool designed to bolster national efforts to curb plastic waste and promote sustainable consumption, in line with this year’s theme of ending single-use plastic.
“This Kit is a timely contribution to India’s important efforts to tackle plastic pollution. It sets out in simple, clear language the many ways in which we can all play our part to make a difference, to create a Jan Andolan of change,” said Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India.
Plastic pollution ranks among the most urgent global environmental crises today, with scientific studies detecting its presence from deep ocean trenches and remote mountain peaks to the human brain and bloodstream.
Single-use plastics—such as water bottles, takeaway containers, disposable cutlery, and packaging foam—are the primary culprits and among the most persistent forms of waste.
Of the 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic produced globally, nearly 7 billion tonnes have become waste. Yet, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), only 9 per cent of this waste is recycled.
Recognising this huge gap in plastic waste recycling, UN India—led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)—has developed a guidance document to encourage a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers, businesses, educators, youth, and communities, to step up their efforts in reducing plastic use, improving waste management practices, and fostering a culture of sustainability.
To curb the use of single-use plastics, the UN encourages both communities and individuals to adopt a reuse-and-refill model. Household-level waste segregation is also critical—proper collection and separation can improve waste management, increase plastic reuse, and reduce the volume of waste ending up in landfills.
Beyond communities, the toolkit urges governments to draft evidence-based plastic pollution policies, ensure strict enforcement with community participation, and invest in systems for segregation, recycling, and sustainable disposal.
“The only way to end plastic pollution on this Planet is to bring about behavioral change. Each stakeholder group has a specific responsibility, and we all need to collectively contribute to bringing that change. The Kit is a step towards that with some practical tips for how each stakeholder can contribute to ending plastic pollution,” said Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, Head of UNEP India.
The kit promotes a lifecycle approach to plastic use, encouraging redesign, reuse, and recycling. To broaden outreach, the agency will also translate the document into multiple Indian languages.