Plastic Waste

Regulations governing Import and Export of Waste Paper

Over the last decade, seeing the increasing pollution, many waste management strategies have been employed for different types of waste. Waste was classified as e-waste, plastic waste or battery waste, for which Extended Producer’s Responsibility was introduced. Furthermore, authorisation from Pollution Control Authorities was mandated for other types of waste. These policies and regulations are part of the ‘Sustainable Development and ‘Circular Economy’ models. Proper waste paper management, including import and export, is also a part of this economic model. This blog will elaborate on the regulations governing the Import and Export of Waste Paper.

In India, there are currently around 750 paper and pulp mills producing various types of paper, including packaging paper, writing and printing paper, some specialised grade paper and coated paper. According to recent studies, the paperboard, newsprint and paper generation in the country is around 10.11 million tons, in contrast to the installed capacity of 12.70 million tons. About 3.1 million tons of paperboard and paper are subsidised by forest-based raw materials, 2.2 million tons from agro-based raw materials and around 4.72 million tons from waste paper or recycled paper. The last one makes the total share of recycled or waste paper in total newsprint and paperboard production of around 47 per cent. The yearly paperboard, newsprint and paper generation consumption in India is around 11.15 million tons per year. Hence, the Import and Export of Waste Paper become quite essential.

Solid Waste Management Rules

The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), to upgrade the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules in 2000, introduced Solid Waste Management. These rules were introduced to broaden the scope of the rules further than “Municipal area” and regulate the areas under the administration of the following –

• Airports
• Defence establishments
• Indian Railways
• Ports
• Airbases and harbours
• Special districts
• Census towns
• Notified industrial townships
• State and federal government agencies
• Urban agglomerations
• Places of business
• Historical and religious places,
• Economic zones

Solid Waste Management also include the management and regulations of Waste Paper. This also clearly defines regulations for the Import and Export of Waste Paper.

Conditions for establishing treatment facility for Import and Export of Waste Paper under Solid Waste Management Rules 2016

1. To set up the recycling plant or plant for the Import and Export of Waste Paper, the department responsible for land allocation must ensure that appropriate land is available for setting up the operational plant.
2. The owner of the facility is mandated to acquire proper authorisation. The owner is also liable for the safe and environmentally sustainable operations and/or management of solid waste, which in this case is waste paper in the facilities authorised by the concerned Pollution Control Committee (PCC)or State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).
3. The business owner for the Import and Export of Waste Papermust submit the yearly report to the State Pollution Control Board and Local Authority by 30th April every year.

Procedure for obtaining authorisation under Solid Waste Management Rules

1. To obtain authorisation under the rules, the owner of the business for the Import and Export of Waste Papers is mandated to file an authorisation application under Form 1. This is required for setting up waste paper processing, treatment, or disposal services, including import and export. The documents that are obligatory if the waste is more than five metric tonnes per day are as follows: –
   • Solid Waste Management project report by the operator
   • Documents related to land ownership for solid waste processing sites like a rent agreement, lease agreement and so on
   • Municipal solid waste annual report of last year
   • Work Oder or authorisation that is issued to the operator of the business (in case the private operator is operating the site)
   • Technical details or layout of waste to energy plant or recycling plant
   • Permit for operation management plant from the District Level Site Selection Committee
2. Once the application is completed and submitted to the concerned states, the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee scrutinises the authorisation application and the documents.
3. The Pollution Control Committee of the Union Territory or State Pollution Control Board are required to issue approval within sixty days under Form 2 to the private owner of the business for the Import and Export of Waste Paper.
4. If there is the cancellation of authorisation because of the failure of the operational plant to fulfil the mandates/compliance given for Industrial Solid Waste Management, the private owner of the business should be given proper notice.

Norms for Import of Paper Waste

Import of Scrap Paper or Paperboard made entirely of mechanical pulp comes under the Hazardous Waste (Handling and Transboundary Movement) Management Rules, 2016. Therefore, for setting up an import business relating to paper waste, one also has to acquire Hazardous Waste Authorisation. Along with authorisation, a pre-shipment examination also has to be conducted by the authority. The required/mandated certificates that are to be submitted at the time of export of waste and paper scrap are –

• Government registration
• Procedure to import
• Certificate of Origin to import Pulp of wood, waste and scrap of paper

According to one of the most elaborated studies done in 1980, the import of waste paper was US$5.1 million, which rose to US$ 1 billion in 2011. Now according to recent reports, it is estimated that India imports around 4.0 million tonnes of waste paper every year.

Following countries ImportedWaste Paper Scrap to India from around the world in 2020-2021 (Apr-Nov).

S.No.	Countries	Value (US Dollar) (in million)
1	United States of America	45.1
2	United Kingdom	11.5
3	Spain	8.89
4	Netherlands	8.38
5	Italy	5.76
6	United Arab Emirates	4.42
7	Belgium	4.03
8	Canada	4.0
9	Germany	3.58
10	Saudi Arabia	2.3
11	Kuwait	1.64
12	Ireland	1.51
13	Bahrain	1.2
14	Portugal	1.1
15	Jordan	0.99

Hazardous Waste Authorisation

The registration relating to the management and regulation of hazardous waste, including the Import and Export of Waste Paper, is regulated under The Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008. For authorisation, the exporter has to apply in Form 5 with the justification for the activity and the additional documents. Once the authority reviews these applications and documents, the license for the regulations is granted.

Documents required for submission

The documents which are compulsory while applying for Hazardous Waste Authorisation for regulations governing Import and Export of Waste Paper are: –

• CTO (Consent to Operate)
• Certificate of Incorporation (CIN)/LLP
• CTE (Consent to Establish)
• MOA (Memorandum of Association)
• AOA (Article of Association)
• Board resolution for appointing an authorised person
• Aadhar card
• PAN copy
• Layout Plans
• GST certificate of business
• Rent/proof of ownership
• Factory License/Trade License

Process for Export of Waste Paper

Paper waste can be characterised as paper products and paper. This paper waste is exported to 59 countries from India with the HSN Code 470630. According to a study done for April to November 2021, India’s waste paper export is estimated to be 7.14 USD million in 2020-2021. Comparing the data to the year-on-year export values, this has increased by 234.43 per cent from 0.61 million US Dollars in 2017 to 2.04 million US Dollars in 2018.

There are in total of 59 import and export partners all over the world to whom India exports waste paper. Among Import and Export partner countries, China is the major importer of paper waste from India, with consignments valued at 6.71 million US Dollars. This value is 93.98 per cent of India’s exports for this service. After China, the second is Ukraine at 6.71 million US Dollars with 3.64 per cent share, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 0.04 million US Dollars, Bangladesh with 0.03 million US Dollars and Nepal with 0.02 million US Dollars.

GST Certificate

Document required for GST Certificate

• Permanent Account Number Card
• Incorporation certificate authorised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
• Memorandum of Association
• Article of Association
• Aadhar card of the applicant
• Address proof like electricity bill or water bill etc.
• Bank details

Trade license for Import and Export of Waste Paper

The regulation for trade license is set by the state authorities /government, which Municipal Corporation approves of the concerned state. The authorised documents required for a trade license are submitted with the license application.

Documents required for a trade license are –

• Address proof (can be either electricity bill or water bill)
• Aadhaar card
• Permanent Account Number Card
• Incorporation certificate authorised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs^[1]
• Memorandum of Association
• Article of Association
• Recent municipal property tax receipt in case the premises are owned, else lease document or consent letter of the owner of the property where the business/manufacturing plant is an authorisation
• No Objection Certificate of the people living in the neighbourhood (nearby property owners)
• Layout plan/Site plan

IEC Registration for Import and Export of Waste Paper

Issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Import and Export Code (IEC) is a unique 10-digit code that is mandatory for every Importer and Exporter in India. This code is granted by the Director-General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and does not further require filing or renewal. The application for the IEC is submitted along with the mandated documents, bank details and DSC. All of these are verified by the authorities, after which the code is granted as a soft copy to the business owner for the Import and Export of Waste Paper.

Documents Required

The documents required for an IEC registration as mandated by the Ministry of Commerce are –

• PAN card of the company
• Applicant’s PAN
• Aadhaar card
• Company Incorporation certificate or partnership deed
• Address proof
• Copy of a cancelled cheque/banker certificate of the current account in the name of the company

Consent Certificates for Import and Export of Waste Paper

The authorisation of the Import and Export of Waste Paper is governed by the Water and Air Act. Under the acts, the authorisation for consent NOC is provided in two stages. First, when the industry is being established, Consent to Establish is given. Second, when the industry is established and is ready to operate, Consent to Operate is granted.

Documents required for Consent to Establish

According to Air and Water Act, for acquiring a Pollution Control License for Import and Export of Waste Paper, one has to submit the following documents: –

1. Land acquisition documents, including sale deed or registration/lease
2. Layout Plan/Site Plan
3. GST certificate
4. Aadhar card
5. A detailed Project Report is a must for the Import and Export of Waste Paper. The report must contain monetary division related to Pollution Control Measures, break up of land used, industrial process, flow chart of the procedure, control equipment relating to Air Pollution and details for Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) and Solid Waste Management and Production of Waste Water.
6. Copy of self-declaration form for restriction of hazardous waste

Documents required under Consent to Operate

According to Air and Water Act, for acquiring a Pollution Control License for Import and Export of Waste Paper, one has to submit the following documents: –

1. Electricity bill
2. Water bill
3. Pan card
4. Aadhar card
5. Proof of ownership, including rent agreement/lease agreement
6. Municipality/industry license for trading business
7. Health Trade License
8. Site plan/layout
9. CA letter on the financial breakup
10. Goods and Services Tax certificate
11. Rule 14 of the Environmental (Protection) Act mandated Form V
12. Authorisation Letter
13. Factory or Trade License
14. Proof of Registration of unit under Companies Act/LLP Act
15. Consent to Establish certificate

Conclusion Paper waste may not, at first glance, seem to be hazardous or toxic. But reality comes into the picture when compared to the amount of paper consumed and its contribution to deforestation. Thus, proper paper waste management becomes crucial as it can also lead to lucrative business opportunities that increase the country’s overall revenue. One of the most profitable business opportunities is the Import and Export of Waste Paper. But, establishing a profitable business and enjoying government subsidies requires all the authorisation mentioned along with Environmental certificates.