Public discourse on plastic waste management in Assam is skewed towards Guwahati and other urban growth areas. The changing consumer behaviour and increasing supply of packaged goods to rural markets has led to a significant rise in single-use plastic in rural Assam. Yet, plastic waste management in rural areas of the state remains the elephant in the room – ignored, despite the enormity of the problem. Apart from administrative apathy, the growing problem of the plastic waste menace in rural areas of the state also demonstrates a lack of public awareness about the environmental crisis that is slowly gripping them. Increased supply of packaged goods, including those packed in plastic sachets and plastic bottles of beverages in villages, is an economic reality of rising demand for such goods due to expanding fast-moving consumer goods driven by aggressive advertisements and market push by fast-moving consumer goods companies. The lack of a plastic waste management system has led to most plastic waste finding its way into ponds and wetlands, polluting water bodies and posing an existential threat to aquatic life. Pollution of wetlands also leads to loss of livelihoods for fishing folk. Poor awareness level about the growing plastic menace in villages raises serious questions about the actual impact of various campaigns on cleanliness targeting the communities and underscores the importance of reaching out to people individually through innovative campaign strategies. An awareness drive with a call to action must result in reduced use of single-use plastic and use of alternatives that have traditionally been used. The roadmap for plastic waste management in rural Assam needs to be village-specific. It is essential to first identify the goods that have replaced the eco-friendly alternatives with plastic packaging. Farming being the primary profession for the majority of villagers, the use of plastic in different activities related to farming – from the purchase of seeds, fertiliser application and selling of produce – needs to be mapped for targeted interventions. The village market, where farmers sell their produce from farmland – vegetables, fruits, pulses, etc. – in small quantities to buyers, is another place for mapping plastic use and exploring replacing it with alternatives such as cloth bags. Some of the village traders still use plantain leaves for wrapping vegetables, while the majority of them have replaced this eco-friendly biodegradable packaging material with thin plastic carry bags. Public felicitation of those still using the biodegradable packaging materials in cleanliness awareness campaign meetings and highlighting them in campaign posters can motivate others in the market to return to the old practice and stop using plastic carry bags for goods locally produced in the village. Nevertheless, the flow of FMCGs packed in plastic to villages cannot be reversed, which implies that motivating villagers to use biodegradable alternatives is not going to end plastic waste generation in rural Assam. Therefore, the establishment of an efficient plastic waste management system in each village is an economic necessity that cannot be overlooked. Ironically, Assam figures among those states in which the functionality of the plastic waste management unit is pathetic. The central government provides Rs 16 lakh for the establishment of such a unit in each block under Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen, and additional funds can be provided from Finance Commission grants to rural bodies. Plastic waste collection and transportation to the units at block level play the most crucial role in the functionality of these units. Barring a few exceptions, a system to collect plastic waste in villages is almost non-existent. The huge village-wise data gap on plastic waste generation in rural Assam poses hurdles in formulating an actionable agenda, and addressing the gap is crucial to change the prevalent situation. Availability of quality data can help panchayat bodies at the Zila Parishad level to plan plastic waste aggregation and channel it effectively to recycling units and earn revenue. Village panchayats must take a proactive role in collecting quality data of plastic waste generation. Such data collection must be dynamic, as the flow of plastics keeps increasing in response to changing consumer habits and market influence. Building awareness among the public about the harmful impact of plastics on the environment will remain a mere conference theme or a departmental meeting agenda or a ritualistic NGO programme if implementable challenges in changing public behaviour remain unaddressed. Involving the villagers, including students, youths and women, in data collection on plastic waste generation can help make it a talking point. Building a comprehensive list of socio-economic activities in which plastic has increasingly replaced the biodegradable alternatives will require active participation of villagers in providing data inputs. Plastic carry bags replacing the plantain leaves and the hasoti of women devotees for bringing home offerings at the village Naamghars – usually a combination of grams, chickpeas and fruits – is the most striking behavioural change observed, yet overlooked. This indicates how deeply plastic has penetrated rural Assam and sounds the alarm bell over the looming crisis. A community-based plastic use reduction strategy in rural Assam is the urgent need of the hour.