What are Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016?
As per the Rules, the generators of waste have been mandated to take steps to minimize generation of plastic waste, not to litter the plastic waste, ensure segregated storage of waste at source and handover segregated waste to local bodies or agencies authorised by the local bodies. The rules also mandate the responsibilities of local bodies, gram panchayats, waste generators, retailers and street vendors to manage plastic waste. The Rules mandates several new provisions including the provision of Extended Producers Responsibility.
What is Extended Producer Responsibility?
“Extended Producer Responsibility” may be defined as a policy principle to promote total life cycle environmental improvements of product systems by extending the responsibilities of the manufacturer of the product to various parts of the entire life cycle of the product, and especially the take-back, recycling and final disposal of the product.
Who needs to comply with EPR?
As per the Rules, “producer” is defines as persons engaged in manufacture or import of carry bags or multilayered packaging or plastic sheets or like, and includes industries or individuals using plastic sheets or like or covers made of plastic sheets or multilayered packaging for packaging or wrapping the commodity. Therefore, responsibility of working out the modalities for waste collection system based on Extended Producers Responsibility lies with the manufacturers, importers and users. In the rules, the primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or packaging is of Producers [manufacturers, importers and users(brand owners)], Importers and Brand Owners who introduce the products in the market.
They need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste generated due to their products. The rules mandate the producer (manufacturers, importers and users(brand owners)) to apply to the Pollution Control Board or the Pollution Control Committee, as the case may be for grant of registration. (The registration procedure is illustrated in following sections) Fundamentally, Producer is defined in such a way that, the definition covers all manufacturers, importers and users (brand owners) as producer.
