The buyback mechanism is meant to ensure that plastic is being disposed of properly.Dairy owners in Maharashtra have decided to meet state Environment Minister Ramdas Kadam to express their concerns about the 15-day deadline given to them to come up with a plan to institute a buyback mechanism for the plastic pouches milk is sold in.
The use of plastic was banned across Maharashtra last year, and Kadam’s directive is part of the state government’s endeavour to ban the use of plastic across the state. The buyback mechanism is meant to ensure that plastic is being disposed of properly.
Vinayakrao Patil, chairman of the Rajarambapu Sahakari Dudh Sangh and president, Maharashtra Milk Producers and Processors Association, said a 25-member committee met in Pune on Tuesday and decided to oppose the move.
“We have sought time from the minister to reiterate that this is totally impractical. We will decide our next course of action after meeting with the minister,” he said. Patil said it was unfair to expect dairies in Maharashtra to come up with a buyback mechanism as no other state had given such directives to its dairies. He also warned that if the government took any action against dairies for not implementing the buyback mechanism, dairy owners will stop the collection of milk, disrupting the supply chain in the state.
Prakash Kutwal, secretary of the Association, said the dairies wanted to apprise the minister about the challenges involved in the process. On an average, nearly 85 lakh litres of milk is sold in plastic pouches on a daily basis across the state. In Pune, nearly 15 lakh litres of milk are sold daily in plastic pouches.
The dairy owners have also decided to raise the rate of procurement, or the amount of money paid to dairy farmers, by Rs 2 per litre. Kutwal said while most dairies in Maharashtra already sell milk at Rs 44 per litre, the few which sell it at Rs 42 per litre may have to hike their price by Rs 2, in order to pay a higher procurement price.
