What is an EPR certificate, and how do importers use one to meet EPR targets?

An EPR certificate is proof, issued on CPCB's portal, that a registered recycler or processor has handled a stated weight of waste. Producers buy these certificates and file them to show they met their Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) target.

Extended Producer Responsibility makes the company that puts a product on the Indian market responsible for its waste. Most producers do not collect and recycle waste themselves. Registered recyclers or processors handle the waste and generate certificates; producers buy them and file them in their returns.

For e-waste, producers fulfil EPR only by buying certificates online from registered recyclers and submitting them through the quarterly return, and liability stays with the producer even if it uses a producer responsibility organisation^[1]. Battery targets are also met through certificates from registered recyclers or refurbishers^[3]. Plastic packaging works the same way through registered plastic waste processors^[7].

An EPR certificate is not your EPR registration certificate. Registration lets you trade; certificates show you met the target. The full rules for each stream are in our guides to e-waste EPR, battery EPR and plastic packaging EPR.

Each waste stream has its own rules, and each sets its own certificate rules. The certificate mechanics come from three sets of rules made under the Environment (Protection) Act.

Registered recyclers, refurbishers and plastic waste processors sell certificates; producers, importers and brand owners buy them. You can only trade with registered entities.

Importers are buyers in all three streams. Under the e-waste rules, anyone who offers to sell imported EEE is a producer^[1]. Under the battery rules, importers of batteries or equipment containing batteries are producers^[12]. Plastic packaging importers are obligated under the plastic rules^[11] and buy plastic certificates as PIBOs.

E-waste rules bar registered entities from dealing with unregistered ones^[1]. So before you buy, the seller must be on the portal, and so must you. CPCB reported 381 registered e-waste recycling units on the portal in August 2025^[2].

A producer responsibility organisation can source certificates for you, but the rules keep the obligation with the producer^[13].

A registered recycler processes waste, reports the output on the CPCB portal, and the portal generates certificates for the recovered quantity. The certificate is tied to that recycler and that year.

For e-waste, certificates are generated against key metals recycled from e-waste: iron, copper, aluminium and gold; for solar panels, against iron and aluminium^[2]. Each certificate has a unique number encoding the year, end-product code and recycler code, and comes in 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 kg denominations^[1].

For batteries, a recycler cannot generate certificates for waste batteries imported under the Hazardous Waste Rules^[12]. This stops imported scrap from inflating the credit pool.

Refurbishers produce a different kind of credit. An e-waste refurbishing certificate defers a producer's EPR for the extended life of the product, after which 75% of the deferred quantity is added back to the recycling obligation^[1].

You register, get your target, buy certificates from registered sellers on the portal, and file them in your return. The order matters, because you cannot buy before you are registered.

The three work alike but differ on validity, purchase cap and how surplus can be used. Battery certificates last much longer than e-waste ones.

CPCB does not fix one price; it fixes a band. Trades must sit between 30% and 100% of the environmental compensation (EC) for not meeting EPR^[4]. Market prices inside the band are not published officially, so we do not quote them.

For e-waste, the band is set per EEE category. The table shows CPCB's figures per kg.

Battery certificate prices are set per kg of recovered metal, again inside a 30-100% band of EC. Lithium carries by far the highest value.

• Lithium-ion and others: lithium Rs 2,400 per kg (credit band Rs 720-2,400); cobalt, nickel and manganese Rs 555 each (Rs 166-555); copper Rs 270 (Rs 81-270); aluminium and iron Rs 120 each (Rs 36-120)^[16].
• Lead-acid: EC is Rs 18 per kg of lead, so lead credits trade between Rs 5.4 and Rs 18 per kg^[16].

These EC figures come from CPCB guidelines notified on 10 September 2024^[16]. If you import lithium-ion battery packs or power banks, lithium-ion pricing is the one that applies to you. Budget ranges for the whole EPR process are on EPR registration costs.

Take an importer of laptops with an e-waste target of 10,000 kg for the year. Laptops sit in the ITEW group (EEE code ITEW3)^[1].

1. Maximum it can buy: liability plus 5%, so 10,500 kg, bought in proportion each quarter^[1]. Roughly 2,500 kg a quarter keeps it on track.
2. Denominations: ten 1,000 kg certificates cover the target; 500 kg certificates can top up^[1].
3. Price range: at the ITEW floor of Rs 34 per kg, 10,000 kg costs Rs 3,40,000; at the ceiling of Rs 112 per kg, Rs 11,20,000^[5]. The real price lands somewhere inside that range.
4. Shelf life: certificates generated in FY 2025-26 stay usable until two years after 31 March 2026^[1].

Not buying is not cheaper in the long run. Paying EC does not cancel the obligation, and unmet EPR carries forward for up to three years^[1]. See importing laptops for the other approvals that product needs.

Importers of plastic packaging buy certificates from registered processors to cover their EPR target, and must keep within the same packaging category. A surplus under reuse may count against reuse, recycling or end-of-life, and recycling against recycling or end-of-life, but end-of-life cannot count against reuse or recycling^[6].

The categories are rigid (I), flexible (II), multilayered (III), compostable (IV) and biodegradable (V)^[11]. A shipment of electronics in rigid clamshells and flexible pouches can carry two separate obligations.

Recycled content has its own certificate trade. For importers, recycled plastic in imported material does not count; they meet the recycled-content obligation by buying certificates from producers, importers or brand owners that exceeded theirs, through a mechanism CPCB is to build on the portal^[10]. Targets are on plastic EPR targets.

An e-waste certificate is valid for two years from the end of the financial year in which it was generated^[1]. A battery certificate is valid for seven years^[3].

The longer battery validity matters because battery compliance runs in long cycles. Up to 60% of the remaining quantity in a battery compliance cycle may be carried into the next cycle, under the 2024 amendment^[17]. See battery EPR targets and e-waste EPR targets.

You pay environmental compensation on the shortfall, and the obligation still carries forward. If you make up the shortfall later, part of the EC comes back.

Plastic EC for shortfalls is Rs 2,900 per tonne for Category I, Rs 5,000 for Category II and Rs 7,900 for Categories III and IV, doubled for a second default and tripled for a third^[18]. Late battery EC also draws interest of 12% to 24% a year^[16].

Yes, according to news reports. Havells, Daikin, Voltas, Blue Star, Samsung, LG and Carrier are reported to have challenged the e-waste certificate price band in the Delhi High Court, and in December 2025 the court reportedly gave Blue Star an interim stay on a CPCB price declaration; no final judgment had been reported^[19].

Until the court rules, plan on the band as published. We track changes on new rules for 2026.

A few CPCB figures show the size of the market. E-waste EPR obligations allotted to producers were 2,67,747 MT for FY 2023-24, with 97% met, and 3,46,505 MT for FY 2024-25, with 86% met^[2].

The e-waste target itself climbs: 70% of EEE placed on the market for 2025-26 and 2026-27, rising to 80% from 2027-28^[1]. Newer producers with a short sales history use Schedule IV, which is 20% of sales two years earlier from 2025-26^[1]. Each step up means more certificates to buy.

• Fake or forged certificates. Using forged certificates or false information can be prosecuted under section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, on top of compensation^[1].
• Buying too late. E-waste purchases must be proportionate each quarter^[1]; a year-end rush breaks that rule.
• Expired certificates. E-waste certificates lapse two years after the end of their financial year^[1].
• Wrong category. Battery certificates work only in the same battery category^[3], and plastic ones in the same packaging category^[6].
• Imported waste. No battery EPR certificate may be generated for recycling waste batteries imported under the Hazardous Waste Rules^[12].
• Dealing with unregistered sellers. Registered entities may not deal with unregistered ones^[1].
• Data mismatch. Where producer and recycler data differ, the lower figure counts^[13].

Small importers face all of these with less staff; see EPR for small importers.

Check whether your product is listed EEE, contains a battery or ships in plastic packaging. Most electronics trigger at least two of the three.

Look up the product's EEE code first; Schedule I does not name some items, such as power banks or Bluetooth speakers, separately^[1]. Then run our approval checker, which lists EPR next to BIS and WPC. For filings, see EPR annual returns. If you are unsure, ask for a free compliance check.