India:
Guidelines On Extended Producers Responsibility On Plastic Packaging
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Plastic waste management is an initiative to control the amount
of plastic waste in the environment by adopting circular economy
and other environmental-friendly disposal solution. It aims to ban
plastic products which affordable alternatives are available,
encourage plastic production with circular materials, and establish
high uptake of recycled plastics.
Circular economy: Repositioning of the plastic waste and
disposal
In a circular economy, resources are used in a more sustainable
way by maintaining their use for as long as possible, thus
extracting their maximum value, and then recovering and
regenerating the materials at the end of their life. Under this
scheme, materials are constantly cycled through the value chain for
reuse, resulting in lower energy and resource consumption.
This initiative was started several years ago in Europe, mainly
focusing on reusing or recycling plastic waste entering earth’s
environment. This initiative soon reached other parts of the world
and have now become an integral part of global plastic
manufacturers’ strategy. More than 65% of plastic waste is
expected to be left unattended, either in large landfills or simply
left in the natural environment, which develops to be the biggest
source of plastic pollution. Currently, only 16% of plastic waste
is recycled.
In India approximately 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes of plastic waste
is generated every day. Approximately 10,556 tonnes of this waste
remains uncollected and thus reaches landfills or is thrown on the
streets. The new guidelines on EPR aim to provide brands and
manufacturers with directions to manage extended producer
responsibility (EPR) legislation. The laws make it mandatory for
companies to collect-back and recycle their plastic. The new
guidelines provide a robust framework to strengthen the circular
economy of plastic packaging waste and will pave the direction for
businesses to move towards sustainable plastic packaging.
Extended Producers Responsibility
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)
announced the national framework for extended producer
responsibility (EPR) on plastic packaging under Plastic Waste
Management Rules, 2016. Extended Producer Responsibility is an
approach where the producer is mandated via policy for treatment
and/or disposal of plastic packaging waste. It is proved that
assigning such responsibility could in principle provide incentives
to prevent wastes at the source, promote product design for the
environment and support the achievement of public recycling and
materials management goals.
Key Highlights of extended producer responsibility (EPR) on
plastic packaging
- The EPR framework is broken up into three segments – each
suited to small, medium or large businesses. The three models are
officially called: fee-based model, Producer Responsibility
Organizations (PROs) model and credit model. PROs are third party
entities that manage waste on behalf of manufacturers.” - The guidelines on extended producer responsibility coupled with
prohibition of identified single use plastic items, which have low
utility and high littering potential, with effect from
1st July 2022, are important steps for reducing
pollution caused due to littered plastic waste in the country which
is in line and essential in order to meet the target to cut carbon
emissions by 2030 with respect to the Paris Agreement. - The policy mandates to reuse rigid plastic packaging material
and to reduce the use of fresh plastic material for packaging.
Further, the new norms will increase the quality and standard as
the guidelines allow for sale and purchase of surplus extended
producer responsibility certificates, carry forward and offsetting
against previous year EPR targets and obligations, thus formalizing
the sector and developing up a market scenario for better plastic
waste management. - As per the new norms, small manufacturers have to contribute to
a local body that recycles small amounts of plastics. Medium and
large scale manufacturers that do not have experience and expertise
in recycling can hire Producer Responsibility Organizations
(PRO’s), and during this period of transition to the new
framework, these businesses can hire ‘Plastics For Change’
as a PRO. - The new norms will impose an ‘Environmental
Compensation’ which shall be levied on the basis of Polluter
Pays Principle (PPP). The guidelines same shall be laid down by the
Central Pollution Control Board. - The whole process of implementation of EPR norms including
registration, filing of annual returns by producers, importers and
brand owners and the registration of PROs as well will be
administered through a customized centralized online portal
developed by the Central Pollution Control Board. The certificate
of registration and filing will also be done using the same
portal.
These new guidelines will come in effect 1st July
2022 onwards and will improve the condition of plastic waste
management and hopefully reduce the amount of plastics utilized in
the packaging of products.
References
For further information please contact at S.S Rana &
Co. email: [email protected] or
call at (+91- 11 4012 3000). Our website can be accessed at
www.ssrana.in
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