Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility on Plastic Packaging

Recently, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the Guidelines on Extended Producers Responsibility on plastic packaging under Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.

• Extended Procedure Responsibility refers to the responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product until the end of its life.

Categories of Plastic: The new rules classify plastics into four categories:

• Category 1: Rigid plastic packaging.
• Category 2: Flexible plastic packaging of single layer or multilayer (more than one layer with different types of plastic), plastic sheets and covers made of plastic sheet, carry bags, plastic sachet or pouches.
• Category 3: Multi-layered plastic packaging (at least one layer of plastic and at least one layer of material other than plastic).
• Category 4: Plastic sheet used for packaging as well as carry bags made of compostable plastics.

Significance: The Guidelines provide framework to strengthen circular economy of plastic packaging waste, promote development of new alternatives to plastics and provide further next steps for moving towards sustainable plastic packaging by businesses.