Mumbai: Worried that plastic milk pouches are increasing the menace of pollution, Maharashtra government has come up with a unique scheme: the buyers will now have to deposit Rs 0.50 to the vendor while buying milk pouches and return the pouches the next time they buy milk. With this move, the state government is hoping to clear 31 tonne plastic waste that finds its way to the streets.
“Every day, milk pouches worth one crore rupees are found on the streets. While we have made great progress in plastic ban, this is an area of concern. The United Nations had congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for banning plastic. The plastic waste in the state has reduced. Now we have come up with this new scheme to ensure that even milk pouches don’t end up on the streets. This is a simple deposit method. There are no fines involved,”Ramdas Kadam, Maharashtra's environment minister, told CNN News18.
Kadam said that soon a similar scheme will be implemented for plastic bottles as well. The scheme on plastic pouches is to be implemented within a month. The government has said that it has already held discussions with milk processors and distributors. “They are all on-board for the implementation of this scheme,” he said.
According to a report presented by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) this week, the civic body has gathered a fine of over Rs3 crore after raiding establishments for plastic use. It said that it conducted 10,35,207 raids in the last one year, and confiscated over 60 kilograms of plastic.
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