Mother Dairy recycled 7,284 MT used plastic waste till March 2021

A day before World Environment Day 2021, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable (MDFVPL), the country’s leading milk and milk products major, reiterated its commitment towards a cleaner environment; and announced that it has collected and recycled or co-processed 7,284 MT of post-consumer used plastic waste in the country till March 2021. The overall volume includes both Multi-Layered Plastic (MLP) and Single Layered Plastic (SLP) waste.

MDFVPL started its plastic waste collection and recycling or co-processing initiative in Maharashtra in FY2018-19 under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program and scaled up the initiative on a pan-India level MLP in FY2019-20. The company has been closely working with leading Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) to implement the program.

Elaborating on the initiative, Manish Bandlish, managing director, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable, said, “MDFVPL is a responsible organization, and we feel we must contribute towards a cleaner environment as well as to create awareness. We are the first company amongst the Indian dairy co-operatives to acquire registration under Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and implement EPR. Our efforts have always been aligned towards a holistic approach to collecting and recycling or co-processing post-consumer used SLP and MLP waste. The company stands committed to prolong these efforts and strengthen the momentum going ahead.

Other initiatives

• Mother Dairy has been engaging and encouraging its consumers to opt for Token Milk (Automated Milk Vending system) at its booths in Delhi NCR. This effort has eliminated the generation of around 700 MT of plastic waste every year.

• MDFVPL has initiated a research program on eco-friendly packaging and has introduced paper trays for curd cups to replace plastic trays, eliminating the usage of approx. 100 MT of plastic.

• The company has replaced all plastic spoons with wooden spoons and eliminated plastic straws provided along with a few dairy products.

• Enhanced consumption for 1-liter milk packs instead of 500 ml has helped the company eliminate plastic bags or pouches by approximately 240 MT annually.

Single Layered Plastic (SLP) such as milk pouches, curd, yogurt, ice-cream cups, lassi, and chaach bottles is being collected, segregated and recycled in Delhi NCR and Maharashtra. The company has implemented 100% EPR for MLP, such as laminates and Tetra Packs, across 26 states of the country where the company operates, including Delhi NCR and Maharashtra.