The government of India allows the import of PET flakes but with certain conditions.

On 14 September 2022, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India published Notification No.32/2015-2020. This notification permits the import of PET Flakes. However, there are certain conditions.

The import of PET flakes has been permitted subject to NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and authorization from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

This was in connection with the ban on all plastic imports as notified in the ‘Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2019’ by the MOEFCC.

In March 2019 the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change imposed a ban on the importation of PET bottles to India, along with other electronic items. The ban aimed to strengthen the waste management infrastructure and prevent the country from turning into a global dump yard. Additionally, the ministry’s Hazardous Substance Management (HSM) Division banned the import citing that India has enough waste which can be processed by recyclers.

Once upon a time, India was one of the largest importers of PET bottle scrap, after China. India imported large volumes of PET scrap from the USA, Europe, and the Gulf countries. The booming recycling industry heavily relied on PET imports, i.e. nearly 70-80% of the demand was fulfilled by imports. However, this led to the waste generated locally being left unaddressed.

In the wake of the National Green Tribunal directions, the MoEFCC took an action to effectively ban the import of all types of plastics, household waste, and electronic waste into India. The three-year ban was, however, partially lifted in March 2022, allowing only PET flakes to be imported. Since the import was opposed by many stakeholders, including Recycle India Foundation and Mumbai-based Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smiriti Manch (PDUSM), the issue was referred by the environment ministry to a technical review committee which has now recommended the import with certain specific conditions. The ministry accepted the recommendations, allowing the import of 95,105 tonnes of PET flakes, on August 24, 2022.