Face2News/Chandigarh 

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. 

The Board has directed them to present clear, time-bound strategies that incentivise consumers to return post-use plastic packaging.

PPCB Chairperson Reena Gupta stated, “No company will be allowed to pollute Punjab. We will fix accountability and clean up all our cities.” This move germinated from a plastic waste brand audit conducted by the Board, which is a first-ever exercise in India.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board (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. 

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 noted that the current practice of some companies meeting EPR targets through unverifiable certificates or by shifting responsibility to other states is exacerbating Punjab's pollution crisis instead of solving it. 

The PPCB will continue to enhance monitoring, enforcement, and industry collaboration to move Punjab toward a cleaner, circular and plastic-responsible future.