MoEF Directs Seven Private Firms to furnish Details of Import of PET – DGFT Issues Licence for 90k tonnes to bring down Prices

A Union environment Ministry panel has asked seven private companies to share details regarding the nature and quantity of plastic waste they seek to import from Europe, the US and Canada for recycling in India. The information was sought at the 72nd meeting of the ministry’s ‘reconstituted technical review committee’ on Monday, 30 May 2022.

The move came after some organisations opposed a decision of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade that allowed the private companies to import over 90,000 tonnes of waste PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic in India, like plastic bottles, chunks, or flakes.

“Based on the concerns raised by the stakeholders, the panel asked the companies to submit last ten years’ details of the waste that was imported and sourced locally. It will evaluate if the requirement of importers is more than the annual domestic production of PET waste,” said an official.

The environment ministry had allowed the import of plastic waste in December 2021, which was banned earlier in 2019 to promote local recycling.

The environment groups claim that Delhi alone generates 689 tonnes of plastic waste annually. There is no need to import plastic waste when India itself has a large amount of waste lying untended, they assert.

According to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smriti Manch, an NGO that played a key role in getting the plastic waste import banned in India in 2019, there is no dearth of PET waste in the country and post the ban on PET flakes in 2019, the import of PET lumps increased significantly. PET flakes are the shredded plastic form that is easier to recycle.

“There is no shortage of PET waste in India. As per the industry data, more than 14 lakh tonnes of PET plastic are consumed annually in the country, and even with the global highest 80% recycling rate, approx 2.8 lakh tonnes of plastic bottles waste never get collected. Indian companies have imported cheap PET waste for years under false pretences, which has led to an exponential increase in toxic and hazardous waste dumping in the country,” said Dr Vinod Shukla, president of the NGO.