India’s Government has said that it will allow import of some recycled PET flakes after manufacturers there were unable to get enough domestic material.
Following a report commissioned by India’s Environment Ministry and undertaken by a technical committee, it will now permit imports of 95,105 tonnes of PET flakes over the next year.
In 2019, India had banned the import of all PET including scrap bottles, but this was partly lifted in March this year to allow a small amount of imports while the policy was under review.
Following that review, the Environment Ministry has said that this quota of 95,105 tonnes will now be permitted.
This was confirmed by India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a notification that outlined the conditions under which these imports could be made and that the import of PET bottle waste scrap remained prohibited. These are:
- A unit should be eligible for import only if it has used domestic waste to the extent at least 70% of the capacity in the 2021/22 year for 2022/2023 permissions
- The imports for the year 2022/23 should be restricted to 20% of the production in the year 2021/22 and thereafter 15% of the actual capacity utilised in the preceding year
- An additional import of up to 10% may be considered against exports of the products
- Units would be eligible for import after at least one year of production.
The HS codes for imports are 39076110 and 39076930.
