Sustainability
Plastic Tax & EPR Compliance, Market by Market
Overview
India — EPR Recycled-Content Targets & IS 14534:2023
A recycled-content target that misses its filing deadline is still a compliance failure, even if the packaging itself is right — and a certificate that answers the wrong regulation is no better than no certificate at all. AVI supplies rigid packaging manufacturers and brand owners with documented recycled-content data against the regulatory frameworks that actually apply to their markets — India's EPR recycled-content targets under IS 14534:2023, the UK's Plastic Packaging Tax, the EU's plastics own resource and its separate Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 on recycled plastics for food contact, and equivalent producer-responsibility frameworks in AVI's other export markets — so the certification a customer receives matches what a regulator or auditor will actually ask to see. These frameworks are genuinely different instruments with different tests; treating them as interchangeable is itself a compliance risk. Reviewed against primary sources (gov.uk, EUR-Lex, the Council of the EU) in September 2026 — confirm current detail with AVI's team or the issuing body before relying on it in a filing.
Approach
What we prove, not just claim
India: Category I rigid packaging — 30% (FY25-26) rising to 60% (FY28-29)
AVI supplies rPET at the recycled-content grade a customer's EPR filing requires — for Category I rigid packaging, 30% for FY25-26 rising to 60% by FY28-29 under IS 14534:2023 (lower categories carry lower targets; confirm which category applies to a specific pack) — with certification documentation to match.
UK: a per-component tax, not an EU-wide one
For UK Plastic Packaging Tax, AVI's EN 15343 certification and Intertek-verified recycled content give an importer the documented percentage the tax's 30%-recycled-content exemption threshold is calculated against.
EU: two separate mechanisms, not one
For EU Regulation (EU) 2022/1616, a recycled-content percentage certificate is not the relevant evidence — that regulation authorises the recycling process itself (via EFSA safety assessment and an EU register of recyclers), not a stated content percentage. Talk to AVI's team about which of AVI's recycling routes and grades are relevant to a specific food-contact qualification.
CPCB EPR Portal & Equivalent Quantity Certificates
Equivalent Quantity Certificates and supporting documentation are provided in the format India's CPCB EPR portal requires, not a generic compliance letter.
United Kingdom — Plastic Packaging Tax
The UK's Plastic Packaging Tax is a UK-only tax charged per packaging component to the manufacturer or importer, with components at 30% or more recycled plastic content exempt from the charge (registration only applies above a 10-tonne/12-month threshold). AVI's EN 15343 certification and Intertek-verified recycled content give an importer the documented percentage this exemption threshold is calculated against, rather than a supplier's stated figure.
European Union — Plastics Own Resource & Regulation (EU) 2022/1616
Inside the EU, two separate mechanisms are often run together but are not the same thing. The plastics own resource is a contribution EU member states pay into the EU budget (€0.80 per kg of non-recycled plastic packaging waste, at national level) — it is not, by itself, a tax charged directly to an individual company, though a given member state may choose to pass some of that cost through its own national rules. Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 is a different matter again: a food-contact safety regime requiring that the recycling process used to produce recycled plastic for food contact has been assessed by EFSA and authorised by the European Commission, with authorised recyclers listed on an EU register. A recycled-content percentage certificate such as EN 15343 or Intertek's verification documents how much recycled material is present — it does not, on its own, establish that the recycling process behind it is EU-authorised under 2022/1616. Talk to AVI's team about which requirement actually applies to a specific import and grade before treating one certificate as covering both.
Other Export Markets — Producer Responsibility Frameworks
Extended producer responsibility and recycled-content rules are moving beyond India, the UK and the EU — AVI supports customers navigating producer-responsibility frameworks in its other export markets with the same certification stack: EN 15343 and Intertek verification. Talk to AVI's team about the specific requirements in your export market, and about the current status of ISCC PLUS/GRS/OBP certifications, which are not currently confirmed in AVI's internal records.