India Proposes Minimum Recycled Content Requirements for Plastic FCMs
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued a draft notification (Gazette ID: CG-DL-E-05062025-263615) on June 3, 2025, that would establish mandatory recycled content requirements for plastic food contact materials (FCMs). The required percentages of recycled content, which are based on the volume or weight of plastic packaging used in FCMs sold annually, will increase over the next four years. These will be referred to as the Plastic Waste Management (Second Amendment) Rules, 2025.
The Central Pollution Control Board would be allowed to grant exemptions “on a case‑by-case basis” for those who are unable to meet the mandatory recycled content requirements due to statutory or technical requirements. The draft notification will become effective upon publication in the Gazette of India.
Recently, in March 2025, India amended its regulations to allow for the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) in FCMs. (For more details on that amendment, see the Packaginglaw.com article, India Amends Regulations to Allow for the Use of Recycled PET in FCMs.)