Sing a song of single use

In his 73rd Independence Day address, Prime Minister Modi announced: “The time has come for people to say goodbye to single-use plastics.” Since then, the bureaucracy, institutions, and social activists have been singing the benefits of eliminating single-use plastic (SUP). However, in our haste to condemn single-use packaging, can we ignore its vital role as a market force? The inevitable reaction to the clamor for the ban on single-use plastics has been skepticism and disbelief from the plastics and packaging industry. It is hard to imagine modern society without single-use plastics. It would need a fundamental transformation in the way we go about our daily lives. The way discussions have been going around in circles within the packaging industry reminds me of that famous song by Harry Belafonte, There’s a Hole in the Bucket, Dear Liza. To paraphrase the song, broadly: There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, Go fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, With what shall I fix it? Dear Liza, With a straw dear Henry, But the straw is too long,…

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