The move follows a plastic waste brand audit conducted by the Board, which, it said, is a first-ever exercise in India.
14 Major Brands Top Contributors of Non-Recyclable Waste; Punjab Pollution Control Board Summons The Brands
In a decisive step towards strengthening on-ground compliance and fixing polluters' accountability, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has summoned 14 leading brands identified as the top contributors of ‘hard-to-recycle’ plastic waste in the state, according to an official release.
The Board has directed the brands to present clear, time-bound strategies that incentivise consumers to return post-use plastic packaging.
“No company will be allowed to pollute Punjab. We will fix accountability and clean up all our cities,” PPCB Chairperson Reena Gupta is quoted as saying in the report.
The move follows a plastic waste brand audit conducted by the Board, which, it said, is a first-ever exercise in India.
According to the release, the PPCB carried out the Plastic Waste Brand Audit 2025 in six cities of Punjab — Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mohali, and Patiala.
The study checked plastic waste collected from different areas in these cities to find out which companies produce the most plastic waste.
Out of 6,991 kg of total municipal waste across diverse socio-economic profiles studied, 613 kg was found to be plastic. The results show that 88% of this plastic waste is hard-to-recycle.
It added that the Brand-wise analysis of 11,810 plastic packets found that just 14 major brands were responsible for about 59% of this non-recyclable waste.
The board called out some companies, noting that their current practice of meeting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)targets through unverifiable certificates or by shifting responsibility to other states is “exacerbating” Punjab's pollution crisis instead of solving it.
PPCB affirmed that it will continue to enhance monitoring, enforcement, and industry collaboration to move Punjab toward a cleaner, circular, and plastic-responsible future.
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