April 1 was the deadline, but several manufacturers who use food-grade plastic packaging are still scurrying to meet the government’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) mandate of including 30 per cent recycled PET, or rPET, content in product packaging. This will take time as there are not enough manufacturers of rPET in the country, and many still need the food safety regulator’s approval for their product.
Meanwhile, the industry and recyclers say that another EPR mandate — buying credit certificates for plastic — is gaining momentum. According to the fourth amendment to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2022, producers, importers and brand owners (PIBOs) must meet their EPR obligations by processing their plastic packaging waste through reuse, recycling, or finding a means for their end-of-life disposal. They can opt to buy plastic EPR credit certificates from registered waste processors who have recycled or disposed of an equal amount of plastic waste. These would reflect on the centralised EPR portal of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
According to recyclers, the practice of buying EPR credit certificates for plastic has caught on with PIBOs, as start-ups have stepped in to make it easier for them to execute their obligation. EcoEx has set up a digital marketplace connecting PIBOs with aggregators and plastic recyclers. On the platform, registered bulk waste generators can negotiate the amount and value with listed recyclers, enabling both parties to arrive at a viable price. With one kg of waste plastic constituting one credit, the price of credits varies from State to State, depending on the logistics involved. The nature of the plastic also plays a role in the pricing. Typically, there are three categories of plastic waste — rigid, flexible and multi-layered plastic (MLP). While rigid fetches ₹2 per kg, flexible fetches ₹2–3, and MLP ₹3–5.
Nimit Aggarwal, founder of EcoEx, says his platform has so far provided 10 lakh tonnes’ worth of EPR credit certificates for plastic to around 500 customers. Around 3,000 recyclers are listed on the platform. EcoEx provides waste management agreements (WMAs) and other documents per consignment, ensuring transparency and traceability for auditing purposes. As many as 44,659 PIBOs are currently registered on the CPCB plastic waste portal.
The EcoEx platform also generates annual reports as well as action plans for PIBOs and uses blockchain technology for document verification for compliance requirements.
Non-tradeable
EPR credit certificates are different from carbon credits, which can be traded and have been found liable to be misused, including overstating emission reductions, issuance of bogus credits, and misuse as a proxy for climate action.
“EPR credit certificates for plastic fulfil a compliance and cannot be traded,” Aggarwal points out, adding that safeguards against fraud were being fine-tuned regularly. CPCB guidelines insist that plastic waste processors upload a valid GST e-invoice to generate an EPR certificate on the EPR portal for plastic packaging. This e-invoice must contain a host of details including the buyer’s GST number, seller’s GST number, date of transaction, invoice amount, and QR code. Besides, only signed copies of a GST e-invoice can be uploaded. This has reduced instances of illegal duplicate paper trading.
In fact, the compliance requirement has compelled large companies to set aside funds for EPR in their balance sheets, says Aggarwal. This, he feels, will slowly change the waste management scenario.
Plastic is a major contributor to municipal solid waste (MSW) the world over — nearly one million tonnes of plastic waste is generated per day. A CPCB study in 2018 estimated that India generates as much as 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste per day, of which 94 per cent comprises thermoplastic such as PET, LDPE, HDPE, PVC and others, which are recyclable. The rest is part of the thermoset and other categories of plastics such as SMC, FRP, multi-layered, thermocol and others, which are non-recyclable. According to industry sources, the volume of EPR credit certificates for plastics bought and sold through the CPCB portal every year is around 43 million tonnes.
Besides plastic, e-waste, and battery waste, too, are covered by stringent EPR guidelines. Soon the textiles, steel and paper segments are also expected to come under the EPR ambit. This means that EPR companies such as EcoEx and other players will have their hands full in the years to come.
When it comes to EPR credit certificates, the biggest challenge is in the collection of waste, especially multi-layer packaging like chips packets that end up in unsegregated mounds in landfills. These need to be segregated for co-processing in cement and other plants. This is a job that only the army of unorganised ragpickers undertake in India. Agarwal agrees that waste management faces many challenges and a lot more needs to be done, but stresses that we are headed in the right direction.