Then, after searching around, the articles [2] and reports [3] that I found all put Indonesia (not India) in the top 5 polluters in the world. They refer to an authoritative source from Science [4], but I'm not able to access this due to the paywall.
I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. Surely the Times of India hasn't confused "Indonesia" for "India", right?
[1] http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/all-forms-of-disposable...
[2] http://www.audubon.org/news/these-5-countries-are-biggest-pl...
[3] PDF! http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/mckin...
From the Times of India (TOI) article that it refers to - "India is among the four largest contributor who in total contribute 60%". Which considering a journalist's honesty definitely means India is the fourth largest contributor, which would mean India at most contributes 15% of the waste.
That is a long way from the 60% claimed. Considering the reputation of TOI, even the milder claim is quite suspect.
http://billmoyers.com/2015/02/19/theres-horrifying-amount-pl...
DOI: 10.1126/science.1260352