The company announces pan-India plastic waste collection & recycling drive
Image: Mother Dairy manufactures, markets and sells milk, milk products and other edible products. Photo: courtesy of Myriams-Fotos/Pixabay.
Indian milk and milk products major Mother Dairy is planning to recycle 60% of the multi-layered packaging (MLP), approximately 832 tonnes, used by the company from 25 states by March 2020.
The company said this would be in addition to 1073 tonnes of plastic it had already collected and recycled in the state of Maharashtra till May this year. The work was carried out with the help of a producer responsibility organisation (PRO).
The quantity of plastic recycled included about 183 tonnes of MLP and 890 tonnes of non-MLP.
The recycling effort has already been started in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
Mother Dairy is scaling-up the plastic collection & recycling initiative across India
Mother Dairy rolled out the initiative in June last year as part of an extended producer responsibility (EPR) programme. The company claimed that as of now it is implementing 100% EPR in Maharashtra.
The company said that it seeks to extend the programme to other parts of the country.
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable managing director Sangram Chaudhary said: “Mother Dairy has entered into contractual engagement with leading PROs and with their help, we will be able to network with waste picker communities, recyclers and also liaison with urban local bodies for collection and recycling post-consumer plastic waste.”
The company acquired central registration for the brand owner under the Central Pollution Control Board, in line with the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rule 2018.
Mother Dairy is already selling milk via automated bulk milk vending machines, known as token milk, from over four decades. The company said the system has helped in restricting the generation of about 900 tonnes of plastic waste per year in Delhi or NCR annually.
Mother Dairy was commissioned in 1974 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board. The company through its brands has a national footprint across all major cities in India.