The Centre has asked all milk cooperatives and private dairies to halve plastic usage by October 2, by subsidising one litre packs to discourage the use of 500 ml packs and by offering a rebate to customers who return the plastic pouches which can then be recycled. However, the country’s biggest milk coop — which generates about 2.8 crore plastic packets per day — says such buyback schemes are not viable.
In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for an end to single use plastics. The milk industry is one of the largest users of single use plastics, with the growing use of disposable pouches replacing milk vendors and vending machines in many areas.
Under the Extended Producer Responsibility component of the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules, revised in 2018, industries are already required to recover and recycle part of the plastic packaging they generate.
Plan of action
At a meeting with major dairy stakeholders on Wednesday, the Animal Husbandry and Dairying Secretary Atul Chaturvedi requested the cooperatives which own the Amul and Mother Dairy brands to create a protocol and action plan to recycle milk pouches, which will then be circulated to other milk federations for implementation. “Reduce consumption of plastics by subsidising price of 1 litre pack , rebate for bringing back plastics, [and] reuse of pouches,” said a statement.
