Milma for an eco-friendly shift

The Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma), which has been in the forefront of complying with the thickness specifications of plastic packaging and has ensured that their packets are recyclable, has taken the first step in introducing biocompostable packaging.

Milma chairman P.T. Gopala Kurup told The Hindu on Wednesday that discussions were under way in this regard though no alternative material had been finalised so far.

“We sell around 24 lakh packets of milk in the State a day. It is high time that we found an alternative to our plastic packaging, considering the ill effects of plastic to environment,” he said.

He said that biocompostable plastic was under consideration. Research was going on to ensure that the material was truly compostable and that it could be used to package food products. “We would introduce the packaging on a pilot basis for some products and in some circles. The wide use of the packaging will be based on the success of this,” Mr. Kurup said.

Milma, with a wide range of food products, including Peda, ice cream and sip-up, besides milk, curd and ghee, is the first major organisation in the State to consider switching to more environment-friendly packaging.

Meanwhile, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Bevco has invited tenders for cloth or compostable carry bags for packaging its products.

As per the reports of the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology, Chennai, bio-compostable plastic is a starch-based polymer made from potato or corn starch. The manufacturers are to follow ISO 17088:2008 standards that certify that the products are suitable for recovery through aerobic composting.