The rising volume of post-consumer packaging waste exceeds local waste management capacities, causing land and sea pollution. Despite being recyclable, improper disposal continues. Manufacturers and importers benefiting from packaging must take responsibility for post-consumption waste management.
This Bill creates a framework for sustainable packaging management, covering material selection, design, production, reuse, recycling, biodegradation, energy recovery, and disposal. It promotes technological advancements and circular economy principles to reduce waste and minimize environmental impacts.
The objectives of this Bill are to establish policy instruments to ensure that producers do not use packaging in a manner that excessively impacts the environment. For packaging that remains necessary, an appropriate system shall be in place to manage post-consumption packaging separately from general waste to enable its reuse or recycling.
Sustainable packaging management is divided into three main components:
- Responsibilities of business operators for sustainable packaging management.
- Organizations responsible for sustainable packaging management.
- Management of post-consumption packaging.
Business operators responsible for sustainable packaging management have two options for managing post-consumption packaging:
- Submitting an individual sustainable packaging management plan in accordance with the Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) approach.
- Participating in the sustainable packaging management plan of an organization established and registered with the Pollution Control Department, which acts as a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO).
The Pollution Control Department will be the primary agency responsible for implementing this Bill. However, given that sustainable packaging management involves multiple agencies, coordination among government authorities is essential.