GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2573
TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2025
Waste Recycling and Climate Change 2025 Conclave
2573. DR. VINOD KUMAR BIND:
SHRI DINESHBHAI MAKWANA:
DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

(a) the main focus of the ‘Waste Recycling and Climate Change 2025’ Conclave;
(b) the measures taken by the Government to ensure the effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations across industries;
(c) the details of the plans to integrate the informal sector into formal recycling systems and ensure their economic security;
(d) the manner in which the Government plan to address the issue of unregulated waste disposal and its impact on landfills and environmental degradation;
(e) whether usage of single use plastics have been totally eliminated in the country, if so, the details thereof; and
(f) the details of the steps taken for ensuring water bodies including seas remain free of plastics?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a): The Waste Recycling and Climate Change 2025 Conclave was held on 18th February 2025 with focus on waste recycling, sustainable E-waste recycling, battery waste recycling.
(b) to (d): The Ministry has notified market-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations in plastic packaging, e-waste, waste tyres, waste batteries, used oil and end-of-life vehicles. There are separate EPR portals for implementation of EPR in each of the waste streams covered under EPR. The EPR portals provide for online registration and reporting by obligated entities while ensuring accountability and transparency. The EPR regulations also provide for separate verification and audit of producers, importers and brand owners and waste processors by CPCB/SPCB/PCC, as required. The implementation of EPR in the notified waste streams will not only lead to development of waste management ecosystem including by integration of the informal sector but also lead to environmentally sound management of waste, reduction in unmanaged waste and responsible handling of waste processing rejects.
(e) & (f): The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, on 12th August 2021, prohibiting identified single use plastic items, which have low utility and high littering potential, were prohibited with effect from 1 July 2022. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India has also notified Guidelines on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Plastic Packaging on 16th February 2022, mandating targets for recycling, use of recycled content and reuse of rigid plastic packaging. The implementation of ban on identified single use plastic and EPR Guidelines on plastic packaging will lead to reduction in pollution caused by littered and unmanaged waste including in water bodies and seas.