1. PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT (PWM) &
EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY (EPR)
GUIDELINES
CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
DELHI
2. Plastic Waste Management Rules came into being in 2016 and subsequently seven
amendments have been notified by MoEF&CC. Major amendments are :
• Amendment related to EPR in 2018 ( First amendment)
Producer mandated to manage plastic waste till end of its life
• Amendment related to Single Use Plastics in August 2021 (Third amendment)
Single Use Plastic ban to be implemented in a phased manner from July 01, 2022
• Amendment related to Guidelines for Extended Producer Responsibility for Plastic
packaging ( schedule-II of PWM Rule) in February, 2023 ( Fourth Amendment)
BACKGROUND
3. Responsibility of producers, Importers and Brand Owners
• As per provision 9(1) of PWM Rules, 2016 (as amended) “The Producers, Importers and Brand Owners shall fulfil
Extended Producers Responsibility for Plastic Packaging as per guidelines specified in Schedule –II”
Registration of producer, recyclers and manufacturer
• As per provisions of 13(1) of PWM Rules, 2016 ( as amended) “No person shall manufacture carry bags or recycle
plastic bags or multilayered packaging unless the person has obtained registration from,-
(i) the concerned State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee of the Union territory, if operating
in one or two states or Union territories; or
(ii) the Central Pollution Control Board, if operating in more than two States or Union territories.
As per provisions of 10(1) of PWM Rules, 2016 ( as amended) “The Producers, Importers, Brand-Owners and
manufacturers, and manufacturers of commodities made from compostable plastic or biodegradable plastic shall
have to register through the online centralized portal”
• As per provisions of 13(2) “Every person recycling or processing waste or proposing to recycle or process plastic
waste shall make an application State Pollution Control Board or the Pollution Control Committee in Form II
through Centralized online portal specified in Schedule -II
PROVISIONS OF PWM RULES
4. Plastic Packaging means packaging material made by using plastics for protecting, preserving, storing and transporting of
products in a variety of ways
Manufacturer - means and includes a person engaged in production of plastic raw material, including compostable
plastics and biodegradable plastics
Brand Owner - means a person or company who sells any commodity under a registered brand label or trade mark.
Producer- means a person engaged in manufacturing of plastic packaging; and, includes a person engaged in manufacture
of intermediate material to be used for manufacturing plastic packaging, and also the person engaged in contract
manufacturing of products using plastic packaging or through other similar arrangements for a brand Owners.
Seller - means a person who sells plastic raw material such as resins or pellets or intermediate material used for
producing plastic packaging
Importer - means a person who imports for commercial use, any plastic packaging or any commodity with plastic
packaging or carry bags or plastic sheets or like material, or plastic raw material including in the form of resin or pellets,
or intermediate material to be used for manufacturing plastic packaging such as films or preforms;
Plastic Waste Processors- means recyclers and entities engaged in using plastic waste for energy (waste to energy), and
converting it to oil (waste to oil), industrial composting.
Recycling - means the process of transforming segregated plastic waste into a new product or raw material for producing
new products;
End of Life disposal- means using plastic waste for generation of energy and includes co-processing (e.g. in cement kilns)
or waste to oil or for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines, etc;
Waste to Energy- means using plastic waste for generation of energy and includes co-processing (e.g. in cement kilns).
KEY DEFINATIONS
5. Pre-consumer plastic packaging waste- means plastic packaging waste generated in the
form of reject or discard at the stage of manufacturing of plastic packaging and plastic
packaging waste generated during the packaging of product including reject, discard,
before the plastic packaging reaches the end-use consumer of the product.
Post-consumer plastic packaging waste- means plastic packaging waste generated by the
end-use consumer after the intended use of packaging is completed and is no longer being
used for its intended purpose.
KEY DEFINATIONS
6. EPR Guidelines for plastic packaging dated February 16, 2022 in schedule -II of Plastic Waste Management Notified by
MoEF&CC.
Registration of PIBOs, PWPs, Manufacturers and importers of plastic raw material, & Manufacturers of items made from
compostable plastics or biodegradable plastics
Five categories of plastic packaging (rigid, flexible, multi-layered, compostable and biodegradable)
EPR Target of PIBOs and Manufacturers based on Categorywise Plastic Packaging sold
Obligations for Reuse, Recycle, Use of Recycle content and End disposal
EPR Certificates to be generated by Plastic Waste Processors(PWPs) and ULBs
EPR Target fulfilment through EPR Certificates
Third Party Audit for ensuring compliance
Environmental Compensation for non-compliance
Key stakeholders : CPCB,SPCBs/PCCs, ULBs, Producers, Importers, Brand Owners, Manufacturers and Plastic Waste
Processors (PWPs)
Centralized EPR Portal developed by CPCB (eprplastic.cpcb.gov.in)
EPR GUIDELINES FOR PLASTIC PACKAGING
7. Category I
Rigid plastic packaging
Category II
Flexible plastic packaging of single layer or multilayer
(more than one layer with different types of plastic)
Category III
Multilayered plastic packaging (at least one layer of plastic
and at least one layer of material other than plastic)
Category IV
Plastic sheet or like used for packaging as well as carry
bags made of compostable plastics
Category V
Plastic sheet or like used for packaging as well as carry
bags and commodities made of Biodegradable plastics
TYPES of plastics covered under EPR for plastic packaging
8. End Disposal
Source PIBOs Sell Use
Reuse
Use of Recycled
content
Recycle
(i) Reuse : using an object or
resource material again for
either the same purpose
(ii) Recycling; transforming
segregated plastic waste into a
new product or raw material for
producing new products
(iii) Use of recycled plastic content;
recycled plastic, instead of
virgin plastic
(iv) End of life disposal- plastic
waste for generation of energy
EPR OBLIGATIONS
9. Year Extended Producer Responsibility Target
2021-22 25%
2022-23 70%
2023-24 100%
The guidelines lay down targets for Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic waste that needs to be fulfilled
by the Producers, Importers, and Brand Owners .
Target ((in MT)) = (A + B) – C
A: average weight of plastic packaging material (category-wise) sold in the last two financial years (A)
B: average quantity of pre-consumer plastic packaging waste in the last two financial years
C: Annual quantity supplied to in the registered PIBOs in previous financial year
Note : C is not applicable for Brand Owner
EPR TARGET
10. Obligation for minimum level of recycling, use of recycled content and Reuse that needs to be ensured by them
EPR TARGET
Manufacturer
or importer of
plastic raw
material
11. Fulfilment of Extended Producer Responsibility Obligations:
The Producers, Importers & Brand-Owners shall have to provide the details of recycling certificate only
from registered recyclers along with the details of quantity sent for end of life disposal, by 30th June of
next financial year while filing annual returns on the online portal
Environmental Compensation:
Environmental compensation will be levied based upon polluter pays principle, with respect to non-
fulfilment of EPR targets by producers, importers and brand owners, for the purpose of protecting and
improving the quality of the environment and preventing, controlling and abating environment pollution.
Salient features of EPR Guidelines
12. EPR IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM
PIBOs PWPs
Centralized
EPR Portal
Registration through
CPCB/SPCB/PCC
Recycled Plastic
Revenue ( EPR Certificates + Recycled Products)
EPR Certificates
Transfer
EPR Certificates
generation
Plastic Packaging,
Collection, &
Segregation
Sold Plastic
Packaging Segregated Plastic
Packaging W
aste
13. KEY MODULES FOR EPR PORTAL
1
EPR Registration
for PIBOs including
EPR plans and
target for recycling,
reuse, use of
recycled plastics
and processing of
plastic waste
(Module I&IA)
2
Registration of
PWP including
recyclers with their
total capacity to
recycle and
process plastic
waste annually
(Module II)
3
Trading &
Settlement of EPR
obligations by
PIBOs where
certificates can be
traded to meet
annual targets
(Module III)
4
Annual returns to
be filed by
stakeholders
against the EPR
obligations and
quantum of plastic
waste recycled and
processed (Module
IV)
5
Levy of
Environmental
Compensation as
aligned with EPR
obligations of
stakeholders
(Module V)
6
3rd Party Audits to
be conducted as
compliance checks
with stakeholders
(Module VI)
7
Training/Capacity
Building of
stakeholders
including CPCB,
SPCBs, PCC, PIBOs,
PWPs, Auditors
(Module VII)
Key Modules of EPR Portal
14. Registration of PIBOs and PWPs
Facilitates Error free filing & fast processing of Application
Dynamic fixing of Annual EPR Target as per EPR Guidelines
Real time Capture of Procurement /Sales of Plastic Packaging &
Target Setting
Cross-validation of Transactions between PIBOs/PWPs
GIS based mapping of PWPs
Generation and transfer of EPR certificate
Physical verification by SPCB/PCC
Inbuilt Checks & Balances
Transparent mechanism
Central Repository of EPR Data for monitoring
KEY FEATURES CENTRALIZED EPR PORTAL
EPR Portal launched
in April 2022 & fully
functional since
January 2023
15. EPR Compliance
• Third Party Audit of Registered Auditors
Online Random Criteria based for selection of entities
Auto Allocation of entities to Auditors for Auditing
• Levying of Environmental Compensation
Shortfall in meeting EPR target, misreporting etc
First time violation Rs. 5000/- per ton
Capacity Building Module
Guidelines
Presentation and Videos etc.
Mechanism of Enforcement of EPR
