Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Aditya Dubey (Minor) Vs Amazon Retail India Private Limited & Others dated 10/09/2020.

The applications seeks enforcement of ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. One of the petition seeks enforcement of the liability against Amazon and Flipkart using excessive plastic packaging material without meeting statutory liability.

The second petition alleged violation of such statutory liability by M/s Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd. (CCIPL), Gurgaon, Haryana, M/s Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon, Haryana, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon, Haryana, M/s Bisleri International Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, M/s Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, M/s Patanjali Peya Private Ltd., Haridwar, Uttarakhand, M/s Nourish CoBeverages Ltd. (Himalayan Water), Gurgaon, Haryana and M/s Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp. Ltd., New Delhi.

The matter has been considered on earlier occasions and it was observed that the statutory regulators were not taking coercive measures including invoking of “Polluter Pays” principle for enforcing the statutory norms.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) was directed to look into the matter and file further report. The NGT suggested that the CPCB can also consider ordering environmental audit against the concerned entities and assess and recover compensation for violation of environmental norms, following due process of law.