India, Feb. 22 -- Shift to a reusable system through public policy, stricter regulations across the entire plastics supply chain are key to enable just transition

Street vendors are an important part of our daily lives, bridging the gap between our needs and affordability. While the vendors are most visible during the festive season, our daily lives would be extremely different without access to these hardworking individuals. However, they are also unfairly blamed for the burgeoning plastic waste in the country.

Street vendors constitute approximately 2.5 per cent of the urban population and serve the everyday needs of more than 377 million Indians in urban India, according to the 2011 National Census report. They choose self-employment...