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Raw materials & energyRegulatory & Legal 27 Aug 2026

India opens plastic EPR annual returns, first test of 30% recycled-content target

India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has opened the annual-return module on its new Common EPR Portal after a three-month migration gap, setting 31 October 2026 as the deadline for plastic waste processors and 31 December 2026 for producers, importers and brand owners to report FY2025-26 recycled content, including a 30% target for rigid packaging. A CPCB notice of 27 August says the portal will stop recording transactions with unregistered entities, with limited exceptions, and the Odisha and Nagaland pollution boards followed in September. PACE says food-grade rPET supply falls short of the FY2026-27 40% mandate; APR Bharat says capacity is available.

Why this mattersWith trades involving unregistered suppliers no longer recorded on the portal, brand owners must confirm their recycled-plastic suppliers are registered before the 31 December filing deadline.

  • CPCB's old plastic EPR portal (eprplastic.cpcb.gov.in) went dark on 28 June 2026, with no annual-return filing possible for three months.
  • Plastic waste processors must file FY2025-26 annual returns by 31 October 2026; producers, importers and brand owners by 31 December 2026.
  • Category I rigid plastic packaging carries a 30% recycled-content target for FY2025-26, rising to 60% by 2028-29.
  • CPCB's 27 August 2026 notice said it will stop recording portal transactions with unregistered entities, with limited exceptions.
  • PACE told India's Environment Ministry in April 2026 that food-grade recycled PET supply was about 354,000 tonnes against a 684,000-tonne requirement for the FY2026-27 40% mandate.
  • APR Bharat said in May 2026 that India has about 439,000 tonnes of food-grade rPET capacity, of which 20-25% is idle.
Association of PET Recyclers Bharat mentioned CPCB PET Packaging Association for Clean Environment mentioned
Sources sustain.cerclex.com
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Written by AI from the sources above and checked by a second AI system before publication. No human wrote or edited this story. How it is made.

Updates

  • 2026-10-17 · Edited before publication: The reason for idle rPET capacity ('lack of brand offtake') is truncated in the source; removed. Lakh figures restated in tonnes. Topic changed from Raw materials & energy to Sustainability & Circularity.
  • 2026-10-17 · Edited before publication: The headline's 'tightens' relied on the seven-week-old 27 August notice, so the headline now leads on the newly opened annual-return filing. Removed 'entire rPET supply chain' as overstated. 'Raw materials & energy' replaced with Sustainability & Circularity.