To.

The Central Pollution Control Board Of India,

We seek to draw your attention to the use of thousand of tonnes of plastic packaging by food delivery companies like Zomato & Swiggy without making any arrangement for collection of the plastic cutlery, containers, bags and tapes which are used in the course of the food delivery. 

Since these companies have not created any arrangement for collection and safe disposal of the plastic waste created due to their business, therefore this plastic waste created in the course of their business, becomes part of the domestic waste and ends up choking landfills, drains, rivers and oceans. The microplastics from this packaging infiltrates the soil, contaminates it and enters the food cycle, which results in severe health complications for human and animal life. The burning of this plastic waste at illegal dump sites results in release of toxic chemicals in the atmosphere and hence  plays a significant role in accelerating climate change.

As per their own public claims these brands fulfill upto hundreds of thousands of orders in a day and thus the huge amount of plastic waste being generated in the course of their business can be easily estimated. 

Rule 9 of the Plastic Waste Management Rules is  as under:- 

"9. Responsibility of producers, Importers and Brand Owners. –
……

2) Primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or
packaging is of Producers, Importers and Brand Owners who introduce the products in
the market. They need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste
generated due to their products. This plan of collection to be submitted to the State
Pollution Control Boards while applying for Consent to Establish or Operate or Renewal.
The Brand Owners whose consent has been renewed before the notification of these rules
shall submit such plan within one year from the date of notification of these rules and
implement with two years thereafter;..."

Thus the primary responsibility for collection of plastic packaging is of brand owners who introduce the products in the market. Since in the present case the packaging is being introduced into the market by Zomato, Swiggy and other food delivery apps in the course of their business, thus the primary responsibility of collecting the plastic-containers, bags, tapes, etc. lies on these food delivery brands. However the said responsibility is not being fulfilled by these brands in clear violation of the PWM Rules, 2016  and this is resulting  in creation of thousands of tonnes of plastic waste which is poisoning our planet.

In a similar situation relating to e-commerce companies namely Amazon & Flipkart, I had filed O.A. No.997/2019 before the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal seeking compliance of Rule 9 by the said e-commerce companies. The said e-commerce companies had defended themselves by claiming that they were not the producers of the packaging or the product, but were merely aggregators and were only engaged in delivery of the product AND thus they are not covered by the PWM Rules.

However the CPCB and the Ld. NGT had held that the said aggregators were also covered by the PWM Rules, 2016 as it is their business which was introducing the plastic packaging in the market. In view of the said finding the two companies were directed to register under the PWM Rules and have since then stopped using plastic packaging.

The defense of Zomato & Swiggy is the same as the failed defense taken by the e-commerce companies- that they are just aggregators and responsibility of collection is that of individual restaurants.

This stand is clearly illegal as though Zomato & Swiggy want to make profits by delivering the food in plastic packaging to their customers but want to shift the responsibility of collection to the restaurants who have had no interaction with the customer and who would not have even agreed to serve most of such orders had it not been for these food delivery apps. The food delivery companies are aware that enforcement of the rules by the CPCB against millions of individual restaurants will be almost impossible therefore they have set up this unsustainable defense.

In the present case also the same legal principle as the e-commerce companies would apply and hence Zomato, Swiggy and other food delivery apps will also be covered by PWM Rules.

Therefore please Sign This Petition to request Central Pollution Control Board to initiate action for Recovery of Environmental Compensation from Zomato & Swiggy and further direct them either to Comply With Extended Producers Responsibility or Stop Their Business immediately.

Best,

Aditya Dubey Aman Banka Siddhant Sarang

for

#Kill Plastic Campaign