Plastic Waste: The 2016 Rules and What They Cover

In one line

The rules that decide what plastic may be made, how thick it must be, and who has to pick it up afterwards.

In exam wording: the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 were notified on 18 March 2016 by G.S.R. 320(E) under sections 3, 6 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986; rule 2 applies them to every waste generator, local body, gram panchayat, manufacturer, importer, producer, brand owner and plastic waste processor; rule 3 defines the terms; rule 4 imposes the conditions on manufacture and use including the thickness requirement and the single-use prohibition; rule 5 states how plastic waste is to be managed; and rules 6, 7 and 8 impose the duties of the local body, the gram panchayat and the waste generator.

Rule 1 and rule 2: what these rules bite on

Rule 1. Short title and commencement. In force on publication, 18 March 2016.

Rule 2(1), application. To every waste generator, local body, gram panchayat, manufacturer, importer and producer, and, since the amendment of 12 August 2021, also to every brand owner and every plastic waste processor.

That 2021 addition matters more than it looks. The word "producer" in these Rules means the maker of the plastic, and a company that sells shampoo in a plastic sachet does not make plastic. Adding the brand owner brought the company whose name is on the sachet inside the Rules, and that is the entity extended producer responsibility is aimed at.

Rule 2(2), the export exemption. Rule 4 does not apply to export oriented units, or to units in special economic zones, manufacturing against an order for export. But the exemption expressly does not extend to units packaging gutkha, tobacco and pan masala, nor to any surplus, rejects or left-over products.

Rule 3: the definitions worth carrying

Rule 3 runs from clause (a) to clause (aa) and has been added to by almost every amendment. Six repay learning.

Carry bag, clause (c). Bags of plastic or compostable plastic used for carrying or dispensing commodities, having a self-carrying feature, but not bags that constitute or form an integral part of the packaging in which goods are sealed before use. So the bag you are handed at the till is a carry bag; the sealed wrapper of a biscuit packet is not.

Brand owner, clause (b). A person or company who sells any commodity under a registered brand label.

Waste generator, clause (y). Every person, group or institution, residential and commercial, including the Indian Railways, airports, ports, harbours and defence establishments, which generates plastic waste.

Waste pickers, clause (aa). Individuals or agencies or groups voluntarily engaged or authorised for picking recyclable plastic waste. Their appearance in a definition clause is deliberate and rule 6 requires the local body to engage civil society groups working with them.