200 brands sign up for EPR before July 1 ban on single-use plastic

Approximately 200 brand owners have registered for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for plastic packaging under the updated Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 prior to the total ban on Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) beginning July 1.

As of 2022-23, 198 brand owners, 26 importers, and 29 producers have registered under the PIBO according to statistics from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). An additional 76 brand owners, 17 producers, and 38 importers have submitted their registration applications, reports Business Standard.

Reportedly, applications of 49 brand owners and 59 importers were denied for a variety of reasons.

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declaration that India would be free of SUPs in his Independence Day speech in 2019, the MoEF&CC amended the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules in August 2021 to ban the production, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of SUPs beginning on July 1, 2022. Although not all businesses use SUP for plastic packaging, the new regulations now require registration for long-term plastic management.