Fixing accountability of producers

#BeatThePlasticPollution is the message of this World Environment Day. The newly released Guidelines on EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) are being looked upon as a saviour in managing plastic waste and pollution in India. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, plastic waste comprises 20 per cent of the total solid waste generated in Bengaluru.

What is EPR?

Waste management is the collection, processing and disposal of waste. Here the producers, manufacturers, importers and sellers were exempted from the effects of the waste generated from the product after use. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) tries to fix the responsibility at the inception level itself.

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EPR is defined as “the producer’s responsibility for products and packaging extending to the post-consumer phase—requiring businesses to take measures to ensure proper end-of-life handling”. It is based on the three founding principles—prevention of pollution approach, life-cycle perspective and polluter pays principle (PPP).

This boosts the circular economy by setting targets for the producers, manufacturers, importers and sellers to recycle and reuse the collected waste and emphasises product downsizing in the design phase.

The aim of this policy is to achieve the UN sustainability goal of minimising Carbon emissions—net-zero by 2030 and containing the rise in temperature at 1.5 degrees.

The EPR registration for plastic packaging lists the target for recovery as 25 per cent in 2021-22, 70 per cent in 2022-23 and 100 per cent in 2023-24—the current financial year. This last target is unrealistic.

What is the reality?

There is a fundamental flaw that cannot be sidelined in the process of streamlining plastic waste. The current waste management process across the globe is dependent on people, waste types and disposal processes.

People: Most rag pickers in India and in Bengaluru fall under the unorganised sector with no social security, safety measures and livelihood security. Is this process going to dislodge them from their livelihood?

Waste type: Recyclable waste that is currently collected by informal methods, availability of technology which is expensive, and identification of the existence of the number of non-recyclable waste varieties. The MSMEs will find it difficult to cater to the expenses of recycling in the current scenario, observes Thej Kumar, a polymer expert and the vice president of operations of an automotive components manufacturer.

Disposal processes: Incineration, landfills, chemical recycling and the Alternate Fuel Alternate Resource (AFAR) concept of recycling are expensive and not available at all places, observes Renuka Aradhya T V, general manager of a company that is one of the two authorised Treatment Storage Disposal Facilities (TSDF) landfill sites in the state.

In the past three months, of the approximate 20 manufacturing units spread out in all the major industrial estates of Peenya, Kumbalgodu, Whitefield and Nelamangala audited for management standards, only one company—a trader of electrical electronics components imports—had applied for registration. The rest from the automotive parts industry, electrical panel manufacturing, industrial gas manufacturers, electric vehicles industry etc heard about this requirement for the first time.

More gaps and some hope

Deepa, an environmental compliance manager with a multinational electronic chip manufacturer in Bengaluru, says that nearly all MNC brand owners register for EPR as the import rules are strictly adhered to and inspected on arrival. That is the start of the supply chain.

However, a lack of awareness is seen among down-the-line suppliers. Another major problem is that many of the imported plastic items are delivered directly to retailers and it is difficult to fix the responsibility of collection and recycling. In such a situation, brand owners cannot be held solely responsible for ensuring compliance, because the concept and implementation of EPR is still at a nascent stage.

Vijay Kumar, Chairperson of Indian Plastics Institute (IPI), engaged in knowledge dissemination on the latest technological developments in the plastics industry worldwide, says the proactive engagement of all concerned parties including the nodal agency for EPR monitoring is necessary in order to spread awareness on achieving the 100 per cent registration targets by the Producers, Importers, and Brand owners (PIBOs). IPI is engaged in awareness of plastic recycling and responsible plastic usage.

India has the best-scripted EPR policy, however, the implementation is a challenge. The enforcement on the ground level can work, but there are gaps in the enforcement as well, in the form of corruption.

With the planet's time ticking, using every way to reduce plastic pollution is important. The government needs to identify the gaps and work towards implementing EPR in the right and inclusive manner.

(The author is a Bengaluru-based integrated management systems auditor)