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On March 15, 2024, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) announced to publish the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2024 on the Gazette of India. The amendment came into force on the date of publication in the Gazette.
Extended EPR scope
With the amendment, the Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) scope are extended to include plastic raw materials and commodities made from compostable plastics or biodegradable plastics. Accordingly, new obligated entities and plastic packaging categories covered under EPR are also introduced as follows:
New obligated units
Manufacturers and importers of plastic raw material
- Manufacturers of items made from compostable plastics or biodegradable plastics
New plastic packaging categories
- Category V: Plastic sheet or like used for packaging as well as carry bags and commodities made of biodegradable plastics
The amendment also specifies that producers or brand owners which are micro and small enterprises defined under the Development Act, 2006 (27 of 2006) shall be exempt from the EPR obligations. However, producers still need to register and declare category of manufactured plastic packaging on the centralized portal. The corresponding EPR obligations shall be fulfilled by manufacturer or importer of plastic raw material who has supplied the plastic raw material to such micro and small producers.
For importer of intermediate material used for manufacturing plastic packaging such as films and preforms and plastic packaging of imported products, EPR obligations also apply now.
The EPR target for the manufacturer or importer of plastic raw materials, category-wise, are shown below:
Minimum level of recycling (excluding end of life disposal) of plastic packaging waste
(% of EPR Target)
| Plastic packaging category | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 and onwards |
| Category I | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 |
| Category II | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 |
| Category III | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 |
Annual reports
As per the amendment, manufacturer and importer of plastic raw material shall submit a quarterly report by the end of the last quarter and an annual report by June 30th of every year to the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or Pollution Control Committee(PCC) concerned. The seller of plastic raw material or an intermediate material used for plastic packaging manufacturing shall submit an annual report including the transaction details to SPCB or PCC concerned by June 30th of every year.
Labeling and marking
Each recycled plastic packaging or commodity is now required to specify the percentage of recycled plastic on the label. For compostable plastic, "compostable only under industrial composting" shall be labelled on the products, while for biodegradable plastic, the duration of biodegradation as well as recipient environment should be specified on the label.
The complete text for Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2024 can be accessed here.
