NEWS

One of the answers is ‘pay as you throw’ (PAYT), a usage-pricing model for disposing of municipal solid waste—a charge is levied on the magnitude of waste disposed of, measured either in terms of the number of bins of standard size or the weight of the waste. About three decades ago, urban Indians purchased milk via reusable bottles provided by milk companies. Nowadays, they get it in plastic packaging. For decades, we have had ‘chat’ and ‘bhel’ on the roadside, generally in steel plates and with our hands, washing them later. Nowadays, ‘chatwallahs’ readily provide plastic spoons and plates. For decades, housewives purchased vegetables and carried them in custom-stitched cloth bags. Nowadays, it is polybags.