India’s 40% rPET mandate faces collection bottleneck as 25% of 356,000T capacity idles

INDIA – India’s 40 percent recycled content mandate for rigid packaging has encountered a collection bottleneck, with approximately 25 percent of the country’s 17 FSSAI-approved food-contact rPET plants operating below capacity due to weak demand from brand owners.

The requirement, which took effect on 1 April 2026, increased the minimum recycled content for food-grade rigid plastic packaging from 30 to 40 percent, with combined annual capacity of approximately 356,000 tonnes sufficient to meet the mandate and additional carry-forward obligations. 

Capacity is expected to rise to about 750,000 tonnes by March 2027, but implementation at the ground level remains limited and falls short of the intended transition towards a closed-loop manufacturing ecosystem. 

Collection Bottleneck and Industry Response

The All India Plastics Recycling Association’s Recyclers Association has noted that demand is not meeting the availability of raw materials, with some projections indicating that for the first year of mandatory recycled content, collection and recycling capacity combined could be sufficient. 

However, the association warned that uncertainty about regulatory enforcement is a factor in the gap between brand commitments and real-world compliance, as brands may postpone investment in certified material purchasing until enforcement becomes clearer. 

In June 2026, the association established a task force to study policy and regulatory gaps in the country’s circular economy policy framework, planning to present its findings to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change by August 2026.

Bottle Ki Recycle Yatra Campaign

To address the collection challenge, APR Bharat has launched the “Bottle Ki Recycle Yatra” campaign, a 15-day PET bottle collection and awareness initiative running along the Kanwar Yatra Hindu pilgrimage route, where millions of pilgrims collect sacred water from the Ganges river and carry it to holy temples. 

The collection van will travel across four high-footfall locations in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, with APR Bharat expecting the campaign to divert more than 35,000 PET bottles into formal recycling. 

Goutham Jain, director general of APR Bharat, stated that the main objective is to make recycling tangible and relatable, demonstrating that a discarded PET bottle can become the starting point for another bottle with the right collection and recycling systems. 

India’s recycled-content targets are scheduled to rise further, reaching 60 percent for food-contact rigid packaging by 2028–29, putting additional pressure on the country to expand collection infrastructure.

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