The ministry of environment, forests & climate change, through a surprise order issued last month, banned import of all used plastic or PET bottles scrap by recycling plants in India and asked these units to, from now on, rely on similar waste generated within the country.

And it's not just plastic waste import the ministry is targetting. The ministry has also taken a policy decision to ban import of all kinds of household waste, non-exportable electrical equipment and computers & accessories that don't have a clearly preset residual life.

The move is part of a two-pronged drive to push for better waste management in India while at the same time prevent the country from turning into a dumpyard for global waste. The order, which was issued by the ministry's Hazardous Substance Management (HSM) Division, followed a meeting of an expert committee held last May which rejected all proposals to import used PET and other plastic waste on grounds there was enough plastic scrap available in the country, most of which remains unutilised and therefore created a disposal issue.

"Under the new rules, we have clearly said no to import of PET bottles in India for recycling and no import of household waste either. First what's generated in India must be treated and recycled. Tonnes of PET bottles come to India from across the world while our own waste stays unaddressed. This has to be corrected," said a member of the committee, asking not to be identified.

STREAMLINING WASTE IMPORT PROCESS

Besides banning imports of certain items, the committee has also streamlined the process for other kinds of waste imports. State pollution control boards will be the direct interface for imports of all permitted items while the central government will continue to monitor and decide on permissions when it comes to import of lead batteries and such like. Discarded electrical equipment being imported for recycling must have a residual life of at least five years and it must be linked with e-waste disposal requirement, the expert committee member said. India, China and Bangladesh are among the top recyclers of the world's waste and the environment ministry had all these years generously permitted import of PET bottles by licensed recycling units in India.

But its policy of benign neglect on this issue was questioned by the National Green Tribunal, which last month hauled up the ministry for failing to study the impact of plastic waste, which according to many campaigners is blighting cities, entering foodchains and clogging up water bodies.

Much like how old and discarded ships come to Alang in Gujarat to be stripped and their parts recycled, millions of tonnes of PET bottles (chemically known as polyethylene terephthalate) are shipped to India from across the world, especially the US, Europe and Gulf countries after they are used and thrown in dustbins. These shipments end up feeding the growing recycling industry in India that, among other items, produces polyester fibre from used plastic bottles.

India has some 3,500 recognised recycling units for plastic waste, according to a 2014 report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Another 4,000 units are in the unorganised sector, the report said, adding that together these units recycled some 3.6 million tonnes of plastic waste per year. In 2014-15, India imported PET scrap worth Rs 27.37 crore, data from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade showed.

RECYCLING TRADE IN SHOCK

The government's moves have left the recycling trade in shock while among activists and campaigners, views are mixed. The industry, which has become used to the reliability of the supply chain involved in procuring imported waste, is predictably miffed.

"It will be disastrous for us. The industry is based on at least 70-80% imports and there is considerable demand for polyester fibre generated from recycled PET bottles. There are lots of players in the market and we are dependent on both imported as well as domestically produced PET scrap," said Nitin Poddar, head of sourcing for Jaipur-based recycling firm Synergy Sourcing.

Sumit Kumar, director of HK Industries, a plastic recycling unit based in Delhi, said the industry relies on imports because it is unable to get the desired quantity of PET scrap in India at a good price.

"That apart, waste segregation is hardly practised in India, so there is no clear flow of scrap/raw material from consumption point to recycling unit. The government orders would work fine if PET scrap was better organised in India," he said.

Among environmentalists, too, the views are mixed. Ravi Agarwal, director of Toxics Link, a Delhi-based environmental NGO, said while the thrust on first collecting the waste in the country is a positive step, there is also need for simultaneous engagement with the recycling industry.

"PET bottles are largely downcycled to fibre and we generate one billion plus of them in India. The new policy focus is clearly on improving collection first in the country rather than importing. The government has come up with the new orders. That is a good step but a more comprehensive engagement with the recycling industry is needed to ensure this works. Unlike in China, the scale of our recycling industry is still quite small and it needs greater investment to be able to process local waste effectively," he said. But Anita Ahuja of NGO Conserve, which works on recycling urban waste, felt the import ban may be short-sighted.

"A ban is no solution. Waste should be treated as a resource for the future. India is importing plastic scrap quite cheap currently for recycling and this is an industry that will survive just another 10-15 years until the western world shifts to near-zero waste economies. As a developing country, we should encourage our recycling industry instead of banning things," she said.