Page 35 - Plastics News - April 2026
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ENVIRONMENT NEWS
PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT
(AMENDMENT) RULES, 2026
1. Overview 3. Key Regulatory Changes
he Ministry of Environment, Forest and 3.1 Revised Definitions
Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government
Tof India, notified the Plastic Waste Man- Several definitions have been clarified and ex-
agement (Amendment) Rules, 2026 on 31 March panded to improve regulatory interpretation
2026 under the provisions of the Environment and implementation:
(Protection) Act, 1986. ♦ End-of-Life Disposal now includes processes
such as waste-to-energy, co-processing in
The amendment represents a significant pro-
gression in India’s regulatory approach to plastic industrial applications, waste-to-oil conver-
waste, with a clear emphasis on advancing cir- sion, and use in road construction. Recycling
cular economy practices. It seeks to drive higher processes that convert plastic waste into
utilization of recycled plastic, strengthen ac- new plastic or feedstock are explicitly ex-
countability across stakeholders, and establish cluded from this category.
a more structured and transparent compliance ♦ Plastic Waste Processor has been broad-
ecosystem. ened to include both recycling units and en-
tities engaged in final disposal operations.
2. Key Objectives
♦ Reuse has been defined as the use of a
The amendment is guided by the following ob- product without any alteration to its original
jectives: structure.
♦ Enhancing the use of recycled plastic in ♦ Seller now covers entities involved in supply-
packaging applications ing plastic raw materials such as resins and
♦ Promoting reuse, particularly in rigid plastic intermediates.
formats ♦ Registered Environmental Auditor has been
♦ Strengthening mechanisms for end-of-life introduced to enable third-party verification
disposal of compliance.
♦ Improving traceability, auditing, and report- 3.2 Standards and Labelling
ing systems
The amendment introduces stricter quality and
♦ Expanding enforcement coverage to include transparency requirements:
rural and peri-urban areas
♦ All recycled plastic products must comply
with IS 14534:2023 standards.
April 2026 PLASTICS NEWS 37
