PET drive of APR Bharat connects 10 lakh Indians

The ‘Bottle Ki Recycle Yatra’ of Association of PET Recyclers (APR) Bharat – a15-day awareness initiative along the Kanwar Yatra route – has reached nearly one million people along the Kanwar Yatra route, raising awareness about PET recycling and responsible plastic waste management.

The campaign, conducted across high-footfall locations in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, also helped collect more than 50,000 used PET bottles and channel them into the formal recycling system. A specially designed awareness van travelled to four locations, engaging pilgrims and local communities while encouraging them to dispose of used PET bottles responsibly.

APR Bharat said the initiative highlighted a significant gap between India’s PET recycling performance and public awareness. A survey of more than 600 consumers conducted along the campaign route found that while an estimated 90% of used PET bottles in India are recovered and recycled, nearly 92.3% of respondents were unaware that used PET bottles can be recycled into new bottles.

The campaign sought to make PET recycling more accessible and understandable by taking the message directly to communities rather than limiting awareness efforts to industry platforms.

“Our main objective of launching the campaign was to make recycling tangible and relatable by taking recycling awareness beyond the industry and into communities,” said, Goutham Jain, Director General, APR Bharat.

The association also emphasised the importance of expanding the use of recycled PET (r-PET) to strengthen resource security, reduce dependence on virgin raw materials and build a more resilient domestic packaging supply chain.

According to APR Bharat, the government has mandated the use of 40% recycled inputs in plastic packaging by 2026-27, but implementation on the ground remains a challenge. Greater adoption of recycled PET could reduce reliance on virgin PET derived from crude oil while supporting a closed-loop manufacturing system.

APR Bharat said India’s expanding recycling capacity, combined with volatility in global polymer supply chains, makes recycling increasingly important not only for waste management but also for resource efficiency and manufacturing resilience.

The organisation works with businesses, governments and communities to promote food-grade PET recycling and advance a circular economy for plastic packaging.