EPR Registration and Compliance

Packaging is prevalent in our everyday lives, allowing for the reduction of food waste and total product breakage while providing increased convenience features at a cheap cost. However, the growing use of single-use packing containers has imposed a significant environmental burden, and the management of packaging trash is in crisis due to a lack of norms. Plastic garbage is currently India’s and the world’s most difficult environmental concern, and the COVID-19 epidemic has intensified things.

Quick Look

Every day, India generates over 25,000 tons of plastic garbage, about 40% of which is not collected and pollutes the environment. With so much plastic in the food chain, recycling has been promoted as a cure-all. People are becoming more aware of the negative consequences of plastic on terrestrial and marine life. If plastics consumption continues on its current path, global plastics-waste volumes would increase from 260 MMtpy in 2016 to 460 MMtpy by 2030, escalating an already critical environmental problem to a new level. 

Brands and manufacturers are under increasing pressure to accept responsibility for the massive volumes of plastic they create. As a result, governments must take up and implement legislation to tackle this problem. The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, included Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) 2016.

Meaning of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

EPR refers to the obligation of producers for managing the disposal of items once they have been declared as no longer usable by customers. It is a producer’s commitment to assist with a reverse collecting mechanism and recycling of end-of-life, post-consumer trash. The goal is to create an effective and efficient system that handles material collection, segregation, and transportation to a waste disposal facility that has been certified as a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) Agency.

Because of their high quality and low cost, these materials may also be utilized in cement kilns, pyrolysis, road building, and recycling centers. Garbage generators, such as brand owners/producers, are expected to collect end-of-life waste created by their operations. This task is handled by garbage collection companies that are PRO-certified. This promotes brands to build marketplaces for reuse, buy-back, or recycling of materials by providing financial incentives. Companies may also assign this duty to a third party.

Objectives of Extended Producer Responsibility

The goals of Extended Producer Responsibility are as follows:

Manufacturers and importers must appropriately dispose of or recycle post-consumer plastic waste in accordance with the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. Extended Producer Responsibility (E.P.R.) is a commercial and environmental approach to controlling a product’s lifecycle. The phrase “EPR Authorization” refers to the producer’s duty to regulate goods disposal once consumers have deemed them worthless. A producer has a responsibility to make it easier for end-of-life, post-consumer trash to be collected and repurposed. The goal is to create a system that manages the collection, classification, and delivery of garbage to a disposal location. Due to their high quality and low price, these materials may also be used in pyrolysis, cement kilns, road building, and recycling facilities.

Brand owners, manufacturers, and other trash generators must collect their end-of-life waste. This provides brands with a financial incentive to develop marketplaces for the reuse, repurchase, and recycling of materials. Companies may also delegate this task to a third party.

What does EPR aim to achieve?

Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, is a technique for protecting the environment that aims to lessen the environmental effect of products and their packaging. In India, EPR registration is required. The government has developed regulations to guarantee that the lifespan of the product, including the collection and recycling of post-consumer trash, is handled responsibly. EPR is the most economical and effective form of recycling.

Effectiveness of EPR

EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility, is a successful technique for increasing recycling rates, reducing waste, and establishing the conditions for more efficient and cost-effective packaging end-of-life management. We think that EPR is one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the environmental impact of plastic waste. The producers are solely responsible for the financial and operational management of their materials.

EPR Authorization for the Management of Plastic Waste

Plastic has a wide range of applications, and the environment is now seriously threatened by the incorrect disposal of plastic trash. The main causes of environmental contamination in soil, water, and air are plastic carry bags and packing materials, which take an average of a thousand years to totally degrade. In order to address the issue of plastic waste in a methodical way, plastic waste management laws were created in 2011. The government announced the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, that the prior Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2011, had been broken.

Is EPR necessary?

In order to safeguard the environment, EPR registration is required in India. This practically implies that no company, whether a manufacturer or an importer, may conduct business unless it first registers for EPR.

Plastic packaging is classified into four types:

• Package made of hard plastic,
• Single or multilayer flexible plastic packaging and coverings constructed of plastic sheet carry bags, plastic sachets or pouches,
• Plastic package with many layers,
• Compostable plastic sheets are used for packaging, as are compostable plastic carry bags.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) will build an online platform for manufacturers, importers, brand owners, and plastic waste processors to register and file yearly returns.

Which entities are required to register on the CPCB’s centralized portal?

The following entities must register on the CPCB’s consolidated portal:

• Plastic packaging manufacturer (P);
• Importer (I) of all imported plastic packaging and/or imported product plastic packaging;
• The brand owner (BO), includes online platforms/marketplaces and supermarkets/retail chains that are not micro and small companies as defined by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises of the Government of India.
• A plastic waste processor is involved in (a) recycling, (b) waste to energy, (c) waste to oil, and (d) industrial composting.

Responsibilities of PIBOS

PIBO is an acronym that stands for producer, importer, and brand owners. All PIBOs operating in India that utilize plastic packaging as part of their activities, regardless of their revenue or scope of operations, are subject to EPR and must register at the EPR Portal and satisfy the following obligations:

• Recyclability
• Utilization of Recycled Content
• Reuse
• Disposal of obsolete products
• Participation in plastics collection and recovery is optional.
• Submit yearly returns- Annual Reports for the preceding Registration period must be filed by June 30 of the following year.
• Provide certificate proof (Plastic credits).

Advantages of Registering for EPR

The advantages of EPR registration are as follows:

• Effective Waste Management: Access a thorough framework for cost-efficient waste management to practice effective waste management.
• Recognized: The Swachh Bharat Mission places a high priority on recycling. Recycling businesses and scrap merchants gain respect in the wider market.
• Environmental safety: EPR reduces pollution and aids in the preservation of natural resources. This in turn promotes sustainable development, which is crucial for both producers and consumers.

EPR Registration Procedure

The registration process for EPR is as follows:

• Step 1: The process begins with registration at the CPCB/SPCB and the filing of the necessary papers, which primarily include a KYC, action plan, agreement, certifications, licenses, and so on.

• Step 2: The authorized waste management organization will collect the agreed-upon volume of post-consumer plastic trash from the designated site over a one-year period and recycle or dispose of it properly in accordance with CPCB/SPCB requirements.

• Step 3: The garbage collection agency will give evidence of waste collection operations in the form of appropriate papers.

• Step 4: CPCB will get a quarterly report from PIBOM’s agency.

• Step 5: After the conclusion of the activity, the agency will submit a final report to the PIBOMs on an annual basis.

Compliance under Extended Producer Responsibility

Every Producer must register EPR for the purpose of brand recognition or registration renewal.

• If operating in one or two states or Union territories, the relevant State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee of the Union territory; or
• If it operates in more than two states or union territories, it is known as the Central Pollution Control Board.

Certificate of EPR

The EPR Certificate is for Indian and foreign importers and makers of electronic items for the management of E-Waste, and it is obtained through the EPR Authorization. Almost all importers and manufacturers of plastic and electronic waste require EPR registration and an EPR certificate.

Penalties for brands that do not comply with EPR laws

While EPR appears to solve basic difficulties for governments in principle, execution is significantly more difficult for businesses. The government may soon impose strict regulations and large fines on corporations, including those in the hospitality, mobile manufacturing, and packaging industries, for failing to phase out the usage of plastic. Manufacturers, brand owners, and importers of products should be aware of and accept responsibility for the environmental impact of their products throughout the product life-cycle under the EPR program, which the government intends to execute efficiently.

The government believes that EPR schemes should be enhanced to encourage the widespread use of secondary raw materials in markets and that rigorous criteria should be established to that end. Monitoring and enforcement mechanisms have not yet been completely built for successful implementation, but businesses are now in danger of losing their manufacturing license if the new requirements are not followed. Bold legislation must be passed and enforced across the state to ensure that no single-use plastic, shopping bags, or packaging finds up in landfills, seas, lakes, or rivers.

Takeaway

What India needs is to build tracking tools and give oversight of trash compliance to guarantee that the waste disposal procedure is as efficient as feasible. While tight enforcement is critical, it is also critical to develop an incentive system around this to encourage more producer cooperation. This is an area where policymakers should step in and emphasize the potential that lies behind this apparent compliance evil for producers.

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