Bridging the Digital Divide in India's Extended Producer Responsibility Ecosystem: A Conceptual Framework for Enabling Waste Recyclers

Abstract

India's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system is moving rapidly from a largely compliance-oriented framework towards a digitally managed and increasingly market-based ecosystem. Producers, Importers, and Brand Owners (PIBOs), alongside waste processors, are now required to interact with centralized online portals for registration, compliance reporting, and certificate generation/transfer. The recent introduction of the EPR Electronic Trading and Settlement Platform (EPR-ETP) establishes a structured marketplace for EPR certificates, enabling authorized recyclers to participate directly as sellers. While digitalization enhances transparency, traceability, and market-driven price discovery, it simultaneously creates technical and operational barriers for small and medium-sized recycling enterprises (SMEs). Despite possessing core operational capabilities in physical waste processing, many informal and semi-formal recyclers struggle with digital compliance interfaces, platform navigation, and credit valuation dynamics. As a result, recyclers frequently remain reliant on third-party intermediaries, diminishing their direct economic benefit from generated EPR certificates. This paper proposes a conceptual framework designed to bridge the digital divide in India's EPR ecosystem. It outlines strategic intervention mechanisms—including digital capacity building, streamlined onboarding workflows, localized technical support, and transparent credit realization models—to enable grassroots waste recyclers to participate directly and equitably in digital EPR markets.