The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified the order for use of recycled PET for the purpose of packaging. However, since the standards for recycled PET are yet to be made, the notification added that recycled PET can be used as and when the standards & guidelines are notified.
The notification reads, "In the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018, in regulation 4, in sub-regulation (4), for clause (e), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: – (e) Products made of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) may be used for packaging, storing, carrying or dispensing of food products as and when standards and guidelines are notified by the Food Authority and such packaging materials shall comply with national standards or regulations as applicable to such materials."
The notification holds importance as the Union Government has ordered the industry to use recycled PET bottles, which shall come into force from April 1.
As per the regulations notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, beverage makers will need to ensure 30 per cent of recycled plastic use for Category-1 packaging, which is defined as rigid plastics and includes PET bottles.
On the other hand, the beverage industry feels that the task of using 30% recycled PET bottles is too high to achieve, even developed economies like those that are part of the European Union have made plans to achieve this target by 2030.
The industry was in talks with the Government for deferring the order.