Waste management

A Guide to Setting up Plastic Bag Recycling Business?

calendar25 Jun, 2022
timeReading Time: 4 Minutes
A Guide to Setting up Plastic Bag Recycling Business?

Plastic products have become a necessity for human existence. They have been dominating the world for over a century integrating themselves into our daily life, right from food utensils to childcare products. Plastic is defined under the plastic waste (Management) Act, 2016 as a material which contains as an essential ingredient a high polymer such as polyethene terephthalate, high-density polyethene, Vinyl, low-density polyethene, polypropylene, polystyrene resins, multi-materials like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyphenylene oxide, polycarbonate, Polybutylene terephthalate”

It is estimated that the average human consumption of plastic is around 11 Kg per year. With this much amount of plastic being used, it also becomes very important to be aware that although plastic has proven to be very important and inexpensive, it is highly toxic to the environment due to its complex structure, which makes it unable to degrade over time. 

Therefore in order to curb the increasing amount of plastic, especially those used as bags, the Plastic Bag recycling business is needed for proper management and recycling of the plastic waste. 

Plastic Bag Waste  

As per the reports, approximately 500 billion plastic bags are consumed annually, with an estimate of one million bags every minute. These plastic bags, after one-time consumption, are mostly discarded, contributing more to the ever-growing pile of waste accumulated despite of being recycled. According to the current statistics, only 9% of plastic is recyclable, while; others are either burned, releasing toxic gas which is harmful to both environment and human health or discarded in the landfills. 

To address this rising concern around single-use plastic bags, legislation regarding the plastic waste was implemented called Plastic Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 under the governance of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change[1] as per sections 3, 6 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. 

Plastic bags under this regulation is defined under Section 3(c) of Plastic Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 as “bags made from plastic material or compostable plastic material, used to carry or dispense commodities which have a self-carrying feature but do not include bags that constitute or an integral part of the packaging in which goods are sealed before use.”

Whereas plastic waste is defined as “any plastic discarded after use or after their intended use is over.”

Extended Producers Responsibility of the Producers of Plastic Bag 

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in its new notification regarding the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2022, has delegated the liability of collecting and managing the plastic waste, especially with regard to the plastic used in packaging.

As per these norms, the plastic bags are divided into four categories, and the producers, importers and brand owners are required to provide information on the quantity of End of life products which are sent for disposal as well as recycling certificates only from authorized recyclers.

The certificates further provided will be subjected to scrutiny by CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) or SPCB (State Pollution Control Board) or, if required, by Pollution Control Committee. Apart from this, the centralized online portal by the Central Pollution Control Board, which producers, Importers or Brand Owners can use for registration along with the filing of annual returns.

Marker Overview of Plastic Bag Recycling Business

In 2018 the plastic recycling market was estimated to have a value of 41.73 billion dollars, with the expected growth at a CAGR of 6.6%. The newly set up plastic business is projected to revenue a profit of 20% to 60%.

Basic Requirements for Setting up Plastic Bag Recycling Business

The basic requirements that should be met by the producers/Recyclers for setting up Plastic Bag Recyclers Business:

  1. The first requirement that is needed is the land and decent space for proper operation of the plant, including space for equipment. The space requirements depend upon the scale of the units; for example, if the plastic bag recycling business is small scale, small space is required, whereas a large scale factory-required large space.
  2. After the land, the recycling must have proper machines, equipment and utilities for the process of the plastic bag recycling process.
  3. Then, at last, any plastic bag recycling business requires human resources to function with proper experience and expertise.

Process of Recycling Plastic

The process used by the Plastic Bag recycling Business to recycle plastic includes six main steps, which include:-

  1. Selection of Plastic
  2. Sorting
  3. Shredding
  4. Cleaning
  5. Melting
  6. Pellet making

Registration of Plastic Bag Recycling Business

Plastic Bag Recycling Business because it is very essential for proper management of plastic waste in India requires various licenses and documents for setting up for Central Pollution Control Board to keep in track of the plastic recycled and its disposal. 

First, the Recyclers need to get registered with the State pollution control Board or Central Pollution Control Board as defined under Rule 13 of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, for which they have to follow the following steps:-

  • First, they have to create the Industry Registration ID with the State pollution control Board through their online portal. 
  • Following the creation of the Registration ID, the industry or plant will apply for registration as per the given categories along with the required document.
  • After this application, the recyclers should select Form II after logging in. 

License/ Documents Required To Set Up the Business 

  • MSME Registration 
  • FSSAI Certificate 
  • NOC by state pollution control board
  • Factory license or Company incorporation Certificate 
  • GST registration 
  • Authorized signatory PAN Card 
  • Electricity Bill
  • Authorized signatory Aadhar Card 
  • Layout Plan 

Consumers for Recycled Plastic

  • Construction firms that require recycled plastic to construct windows or ceilings that are made of recycled plastic.
  • Pipe manufacturers require recycled plastic for the production of pipes.
  • Water Bottle manufacturers are the biggest consumers of recycled plastic to produce water bottles that have strength, durability and transparency.  
  • Beverage industries require recycled plastic to produce containers/packaging for juices, soft drinks, stiff drinks, etc.
  • Retail shops and supermarkets use recycled plastic to make carry bags for their brands.

Conclusion

Shifting of consumers’ consumption to recycled plastic and the availability of the enormous amount of raw material in the market have availability of making Plastic bag recycling Business into a very lucrative enterprise that not only helps producers/recyclers but also decreases the pollution by removing one of the most hazardous materials to not only human health but also the health of other species.

Read Our Article:How to set up Plastic Waste Recycling Business?

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