India Plastics Pact unveils Roadmap to 2030
The Pact targets to enable businesses to transition towards a circular economy for plastics packaging by 2030.
New Delhi, 25 August 2022: The India Plastics Pact, a joint initiative between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF India), supported by WRAP, an international NGO specialising in tackling plastics pollution, today launched the India Plastics Pact’s Roadmap to 2030 to drive forward action towards creating a circular economy for plastic packaging in India.
The Roadmap has been developed to accelerate progress towards four ambitious, time-bound targets for reducing, innovating and re-imagining plastic packaging. The India Plastics Pact’s targets to be achieved by 2030 are:
Define a list of unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging and items and take measures to address them through redesign and innovation
100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
50% of plastic packaging to be effectively recycled
25% average recycled content across all plastic packaging
The Roadmap lays out the actions to be taken by the Pact’s signatories over the next eight years to ensure that these targets are met. Some of the priority actions for businesses in the next two years include:
addressing problematic and unnecessary plastic items that go beyond the Government of India single-use plastic ban,
initiating a consumer awareness campaign,
developing and disseminating design guidances for enhanced recyclability of packaging, and
stimulating greater investment in improved reuse and recycling infrastructure.
The Roadmap details the outcomes and activities key to achieving the ambitious 2030 targets and provides a clear timeline for action by the Pact Members and Supporters. The Roadmap establishes the case for a collaborative approach to tackling the challenges of plastic packaging and illustrates where external input and investment will be needed to unlock progress. It also conveys the crucial role that the various stakeholders operating in the plastics value chain will play in achieving the Pact’s targets. These include governments, investors, NGOs, packaging and product designers, and businesses who are not currently Members of the India Plastics Pact.
Since its launch in September 2021, the India Plastics Pact has undertaken several activities to enable the transition to a circular plastics economy. Four Collaborative Actions Groups (CAGs) have been set up to identify and address challenges in the Indian context. A comprehensive data reporting process has been developed to track progress towards the targets. The Pact has also commissioned three technical projects to strengthen data and information in the Indian context on the informal waste sector, small format & small sachet packaging and rPET in food contact packaging. Moving forward, the Pact will look to stimulate innovative new business models to reduce the total amount of plastic packaging. It will also help build a stronger recycling system, ensuring that plastic packaging can be effectively recycled and made into new products, and back to packaging with the support of all stakeholders.
Ms. Seema Arora, Deputy Director General, CII, said, "We are delighted to launch the India Plastics Pact’s Roadmap today – it lays out a long-term strategy which will help stakeholders at each part of the plastic value chain to bring about a systemic shift that is required to realize a circular economy for plastics packaging by 2030. I am confident that this Roadmap will act as a beacon for change – leading to socioeconomic changes, creating employment opportunities, fostering innovation and driving investments which will help transition to a circular plastics economy."
"Since its launch, the India Plastic Pact has committed to progress towards time-bound targets for reducing and innovating plastic packaging in India. The Roadmap to 2030 is a result of this commitment. The activities highlighted by the Roadmap provide a pathway to realizing the India Plastics Pact’s vision of creating a world where plastic does not pollute the environment.”, said Mr. Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO, WWF India.
Marcus Gover, WRAP CEO, said, “WRAP is delighted to support the India Plastics Pact in the development of this Roadmap which will mobilise not just the Pact’s signatories but also the wider plastics industry in India to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. I am confident that this Roadmap will transform the way plastics are used in India, much like the UK Plastics Pact Roadmap has transformed the plastics value chain in the UK.’’
To read the India Plastics Pact’s Roadmap to 2030, please visit https://www.indiaplasticspact.org/roadmap/