Question 1

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in India applies only to e-waste, plastic packaging, and batteries.

Accepted Answer

With the 2025 notification, EPR mandates have been explicitly extended to the infrastructure sector, placing legal recycling obligations on bulk construction and demolition (C&D) waste generators.

Question 2

All scrap recovered from a demolished building counts toward a builder's EPR target.

Accepted Answer

Only inert debris like cement concrete, bricks, rubble, and tiles count toward C&D EPR targets. High-value salvage like iron, wood, glass, and plastic are excluded.

Question 3

Consider the following statements regarding the Environment (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management Rules, 2025:
1. The rules define a 'Producer' as any waste generator undertaking building projects with a built-up area of 5,000 square meters or more.
2. Construction debris managed and recycled in-situ (on-site) receives a higher EPR credit weightage than waste managed ex-situ (off-site).
3. Recovered scrap iron and glass are explicitly counted towards fulfilling a producer's C&D recycling targets.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Accepted Answer

(a) Only one — Statement 1 is incorrect: A 'Producer' is defined as a project having a built-up area of 20,000 square meters and above, not 5,000. Statement 2 is correct: The rules incentivize on-site (in-situ) recycling by granting it higher credit weightage. Statement 3 is incorrect: Valuable materials like iron, wood, plastic, and glass are excluded from EPR targets as they already have secondary markets.

Question 4

Match List I (Provisions under C&D Waste Rules 2025) with List II (Associated Target/Value):

List I
A. Minimum built-up area defining a Producer
B. Mandatory use of recycled C&D waste in new constructions by 2030-31
C. Ultimate EPR recycling target for producers by 2028-29
D. Share of environmental compensation retained by the CPCB

List II
1. 20 percent
2. 20,000 sq. meters
3. 100 percent
4. 25 percent

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Accepted Answer

(a) A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1 — A matches 2: Producers are projects with >= 20,000 sq. meters. B matches 4: The mandatory use of recycled materials in construction scales to 25% by 2030-31. C matches 3: Producers must recycle 100% of their waste by 2028-29. D matches 1: The CPCB and SPCB share environmental compensation in a 20:80 ratio, meaning CPCB retains 20%.

Question 5

Assertion (A): Under the Environment (Construction and Demolition) Waste Management Rules, 2025, recovered iron, wood, and glass from demolition sites are not accounted for when assessing a producer's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) targets.
Reason (R): These materials are considered high-value resalable items and are managed under other specific waste rules or existing secondary markets.

Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

Accepted Answer

(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A. — Both statements are factually correct. The rules deliberately exclude materials like iron, wood, and glass from C&D EPR calculations because they are high-value commodities that are already efficiently recovered and traded in secondary markets, avoiding regulatory duplication.

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