The Chairman, H.P. State Pollution Control Board (SPCB), Sanjay Gupta reviewed the Status of Plastic Waste Management in the State here today. He said that the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2022, aims to manage plastic packaging waste, which has become a major environmental concern in recent years, besides to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated and increase the recycling and disposal of plastic waste.
The rules mandate the registration of Producers, Importers & Brand-Owners (PIBOs) and Plastic Waste Processors (PWPs) on the Extended Producer Responsibility Portal (EPR) developed by CPCB. It is mandatory for all PIBOs to register on the EPR portal. This registration process will involve providing details about the types and quantities of plastic products produced, imported or sold by an organization, as well as information about the measures taken to manage the same. This will help the Central and State Pollution Control Boards to keep track of the plastic waste generated by different organizations and monitor their efforts to manage it.
It also mandates PIBOs to fulfill their Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) targets, which are aimed at ensuring that Producers & Brand Owners take responsibility for the end-of-life management of their products. PIBOs are required to fulfill these targets, which may include measures such as collection, segregation, recycling, reuse and disposal of plastic waste. The Plastic waste processors shall submit annual returns after end of every financial year by 30th April, on the quantity of plastic waste processed category-wise on the EPR portal. The PIBOs shall file annual returns on the plastic packaging waste collected and processed by the 30th June of the fiscal year.
It has been observed that there are approximately 800 Plastic Waste packaging units (comprising of Producers, Importers, Brand Owners and Recyclers) operational in the State. Out of 800 such units only 84 units have only applied on the EPR portal for obtaining the registration under the Rules.
The Regional Officers of HPSPCB were directed to ensure that all such units are registered on the EPR portal as per norms at the earliest to ensure adherence to norms.
He said that all PIBOs shall meet the targets by ensuring that their plastic packaging waste is collected, segregated and transported to Plastic Waste Processors by having agreement with Plastic Waste Processors. In case the plastic is being sent to other State recyclers, the PIBOs are required to provide complete details as for collection infrastructure and transportation details to SPCB.
