In a significant move to strengthen plastic waste management and promote a circular economy, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), India, has issued finalised guidelines, mandating the use of 40% recycled content in food-grade PET packaging for the fiscal year 2026-27. The directive follows a draft notification issued on June 3, 2025, which had allowed brands and producers to carry forward any shortfall in meeting the 30% recycled PET (r-PET) target for 2025-26 over a period of three years.

Effective from April 1, 2026, all producers and brands are required to ensure that a minimum of 40% recycled content is incorporated into food-contact PET packaging. Additionally, any unfulfilled target from the 2025-26 mandate must be carried forward for up to three consecutive years, with at least one-third of the outstanding target met annually. This provision ensures a phased but consistent transition toward higher recycled content in packaging materials.

“The mandate is expected to accelerate the adoption of recycled PET (rPET) across the food and beverage sector, creating robust demand for high-quality recycled materials while strengthening the domestic recycling ecosystem. By closing the loop on plastic use, the policy will play a pivotal role in reducing plastic waste leakage into the environment and minimizing dependence on virgin plastics,” Goutham Jain, Director General, APR (Association of PET Recyclers) Bharat, opined. 

The amendment, formally notified as the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2026, revises the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. Key definitions, including “end-of-life disposal,” “reuse,” and “plastic waste processors,” have been updated to clarify recycling obligations and energy recovery processes. The rules also specify that all recycled plastic packaging must comply with Indian Standard IS 14534:2023 and bear appropriate labeling to indicate recycled content. Compliance with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations for food-contact applications is mandatory.

Jain noted that the Plastic waste Management Rules 2016 (as amended from time to time) mandates the use of 30% recycled content in rigid plastic packaging effective from 2025-26 with gradual increase of 10 per cent every year until 60% in 2028-29 and onwards. Aligned with this mandate, 15-18 food-grade rPET recycling facilities were established across the country with a total capacity of approx. 3 lakh MT at an estimated investment of INR. 9,000 - 10,000 Crores. These companies have adopted state-of-art technology and set up their factories adhering to standards approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  

The revised rules further outline responsibilities for enforcement across urban and rural jurisdictions, assigning local bodies, gram panchayats, and district-level panchayats as authorities for overseeing compliance. To ensure effective monitoring, state-level monitoring committees will be constituted, including officials from municipal administration, urban development, environment departments, and representatives from industry, NGOs, and academia.

Importers and brand owners are also covered under the mandate, with provisions allowing them to purchase certificates from producers exceeding their recycled content obligations. Multi-layered packaging is limited to considering only the plastic layers in calculating recycled content. Separate reuse targets for rigid plastic packaging are prescribed, with brand owners required to report annual usage of virgin and recycled plastics through a centralized portal managed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).