Maharashtra govt wants dairies to buy back used milk pouches

Shiv Kumar

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Tribune News Service

Mumbai, May 30

The Maharashtra government has revived an earlier proposal to get dairies in the state to buy back plastic pouches used to package milk from consumers.

Ramdas Kadam, the state’s Environment Minister who spearheaded a crackdown on use of thin plastic bags by vendors, earlier this week asked dairies to come up with a mechanism for buying back the pouches from consumers. The state’s dairies, which are mainly controlled by politicians, have resisted such a move on the grounds that it would increase the cost of milk at the retail level.

“The Maharashtra government had earlier given time till February for dairies to come up with a buy-back mechanism for milk pouches. But even three months after the deadline, nothing is happening,” Ramdas Kadam told reporters here.

Shortly after Kadam’s directives, representatives of dairies in the state said they may have to stop packing milk in pouches if the government forced them to buy back the plastic bags. Some private dairy owners said they were open to selling milk in PET bottles, which were recyclable. However, the cost of milk would go up by Rs 6 per litre, representatives of the private Mahananda Dairy told reporters here.

The government wants the dairies to buy back the milk bags for 50 paise each. However, retailers have in the past refused to buy back PET bottles used to pack soft drinks. Customers were asked to send the bottles back to the companies’ warehouses outside Mumbai.