Economic Assessment of Household Plastic Waste Management and Disposal Practices in Tirunelveli District

Abstract

The rapid increase in the number of households using plastics in urban and semi-urban centers of India has created a major challenge to the efficient management of waste. The economic analysis of household plastic waste management and disposal in Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu is conducted in the studies. The significance of the study is to investigate the process of creating, segregating, storing, recycling, and disposing plastic waste by households. It also seeks to estimate the cost and performance of the existing waste management methods in terms of economics. Primary data that were collected through a systematic questionnaire to a subsample of families were used in the study, and they were complemented with secondary data, such as policy documents and municipal reports. The study singles out a lot of inefficiency in the management of domestic plastic waste particularly as far as resource recovery and cost effectiveness are concerned. Some of the relevant strategies to enhance economic efficiency are the enhancement of family participation, the enhancement of awareness about recycling benefits, and the inclusion of unofficial garbage collectors into the official system. The study contributes to the existing knowledge on environmental economics by providing real-world data through a district-level analysis and policy-relevant information that helps to implement plastic waste management approaches that are both sustainable and economically viable.