India's Plastic Scrap Import Ban Put on Hold Until August

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) in India announced that the earlier announced ban on scrap plastic scrap imports has been delayed until end-August this year. The Ministry has now granted a window period of six months to importers in the economic development zones, in order to ensure smooth compliance of the norms. During this period, the units are allowed to import scrap plastic, the Ministry press release said.

Earlier on March 6th, the MOEFCC had announced major amendments to the country’s Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules. The proposals included imposition of ban on imports of solid plastic waste into the country including in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU).

It must be noted that the country had earlier banned scrap plastic imports in 2016, but had excluded companies in designated economic development zones. The recent notification reversed those exceptions so as to extend it to all importers. 

India has reported tremendous jump in imports of plastic scrap, especially after China placing strict restrictions on imports on environmental grounds. Official trade figures indicate that imports have surged higher significantly in 2017 and 2018 to total 271 million pounds and 294 million pounds respectively. Incidentally, the country’s plastic scrap imports had totaled only 203 million pounds in 2013.