Amul Urges Environment Ministry To Postpone Plastic Straw Ban By One Year

New Delhi: Leading dairy firm Amul has urged the environment ministry to postpone the ban imposed on plastic straw by one year due to lack of adequate availability of paper straws in the domestic as well as international markets. The government’s ban on single-use plastics, including plastic straw, is going to be effective from July 1, 2022.

In a statement given to the news agency PTI, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) MD, R S Sodhi said,

We have written a letter to Environment Secretary on the proposed ban on single use plastic straw.

Also Read: Plastic Ban In Maharashtra Inspires A Chennai Man To Develop Eco-Friendly Alternative To Plastic Straws

Further, he added that GCMMF markets its milk and other dairy products under Amul brand.

The plastic straw in our butter milk and lassi is attached to tetra pack. It is part of primary packaging. So, we have urged the Environment Ministry to include it as part of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and recycling.

Amul needs 10-12 lakh plastic straws daily. Besides all, Sodhi said, the company has urged the ministry to provide local industry one year to set up dedicated facilities for producing paper straws.

Paper straws are not available in domestic market. We don’t have capacity. We are not getting paper straws in international market.

Earlier, beverage company Parle Agro, which owns popular brands such as Frooti and Appy, too had urged the government to extend the deadline to implement the ban on plastic straws by six months.

Also Read: Plastic Pollution: Maharashtra Joins World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.