In a draft notification published in the Gazette of India on May 2, 2023, India's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) proposes to bring out regulation for extended producer responsibility (EPR) for used oil. Once passed, it shall take effect on April 1, 2024. Public and other stakeholders have 60 days from date of publication to comment on the proposal.
The concept of used oil is specified in Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, which refers to any oil-
derived from crude oil or mixtures containing synthetic oil including spent oil, used engine oil, gear oil, hydraulic oil, turbine oil, compressor oil, industrial gear oil, heat transfer oil, transformer oil and their tank bottom sludges; and
suitable for reprocessing, if it meets the maximum permissible limits for polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in Part A of Schedule V (excluding waste oil).
Registration
Under the EPR Regulation, producers*, collection agents, recyclers and used oil importers shall register on the portal developed by Central Pollution Control Board to carry on business. The authority will charge registration and annual maintenance fees based on volume of used oil.
*Producers means any person or entity who a. manufactures and offers to sell base oil or lubrication oil domestically under its own brand; or b. offers to sell lubrication oil domestically under its own brand, using the base oil manufactured by other manufacturers or suppliers; or c. offers to sell imported base oil or lubrication oil domestically; or irrespective of the selling technique used such as dealer, retailer, e-retailer, etc. |
EPR Mode
Entities may choose the following mode for managing the used oil in order of priority:
(1) Producing re-refined** base oil or lubrication oil;
(2) Energy recovery (for used oil not suitable for recycling).
| ** Re-refining means any process of removing undesirable impurities from used oil and making the end product base oil or lubrication oil. |
EPR Target
All producers and used oil importers shall fulfill EPR target as under:
For producers:
| Year | Used oil recycling target |
| 2024-2025 | 10% of the base oil or lubrication oil sold or imported in the Year 2022-23 |
| 2025-2026 | 20% of the base oil or lubrication oil sold or imported in the year 2023-24 |
| 2026-2027 | 30% of the base oil or lubrication oil sold or imported in the year 2024-25 |
| 2027-2028 | 40% of the base oil or lubrication oil sold or imported in the year 2025-26 |
| 2028-2029 | 50% of the base oil or lubrication oil sold or imported in the year 2026-27 |
| 2029-2030 (Y) | 60% of the base oil or lubrication oil sold or imported in the year (Y-2) |
Note: For units established after April 1, 2024, the EPR target will start after two years from the end of the financial year in which the unit was established and will be as per the target prescribed above.
For used oil importers:
EPR target in year (Y) shall be 100% of the used oil imported in year (Y-1);
The import of used oil is permitted for the purpose of re-refining only.
