Mother Dairy Aims to turn "Plastic Waste Neutral Company" by FY 2023-24

Bangalore: On the occasion of the upcoming World Environment Day 2022, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. (MDFVPL), the country’s leading milk and milk products major, today reiterated its commitment toward a cleaner environment by pledging to become ‘Plastic Waste Neutral Company’ by FY2023-24, which means that the company will collect, recycle/co-process the same amount of plastic waste which is used in its product packaging in a year. In its endeavour to achieve this feat, the Company has also set its sight to recycle/co-process more than 7,000 MT of post-consumer used plastic waste by end of FY2022-23.

Mother Dairy began its plastic waste collection and recycling/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 for Multi-Layered Plastic Waste (MLP) in FY2019-20, in line with the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules 2018 as amended. The Company has been closely working with its suppliers and leading Waste Management Agencies (WMA) for the implementation of the National EPR framework.

The Company, through its associated partners, has collected and co-processed/recycled around 8,164 MT of post-consumer used plastic waste (5,318 MT of Single Layered Plastic Waste and 2,846 MT of Multi-Layered Plastic Waste) from June 2018 till March 2022.

Elaborating on the initiative, Mr Manish Bandlish, Managing Director, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd. said, “As a responsible organisation, we reaffirm our stand to a safer and cleaner environment for a better tomorrow. Testament to the fact is our Token Milk (branded loose milk) offering since 1984, which has been helping us to save approx. 7 lakh kgs of plastic comes into the environment every year. In line with our commitment, we have now set our sight towards being a plastic waste neutral organisation by FY2023-24, while contributing towards making our planet safe for the generations to come.”

The Company is also working towards reducing the consumption of plastic by way of offering alternatives to plastic straws used for the consumption of dairy beverages and will soon be available with paper-based straws across its markets of operations.

Mr. Bandlish further added, “Apart from plastics, we are also conscious of efficient usage of key natural resources by bringing them under our performance indicators. Over the years, Mother Dairy has taken varied measures for environmental sustainability and conservation of natural resources through initiatives like water conservation, rainwater harvesting, and adoption of renewable energy sources.”

Other initiatives

-  Mother Dairy has been engaging and encouraging its consumers to opt for Token Milk (Automated Milk Vending system) available at the company’s booths in Delhi NCR and this effort has eliminated the generation of around 7 lakh kgs of plastic waste.

-  The Company replaced all plastic spoons with wooden spoons and eliminated loose straws 3 years back.

The Company under the EPR program, in accordance with the Plastic Waste Management Rules, is already working in around 28 states its presence, including key regions like Delhi NCR, Maharashtra and others.