Page 60 - Plastics News May 2019

IN THE NEWS

Hotels in Kerala told to shun plastics

he city corporation will soon convene the second mandatory as the alternatives aren't available widely in
Tmeeting with the food delivery aggregators and the the market. “There are a few restaurants who have chosen
Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) to eschew eco-friendly alternatives.
the use of single-use plastic containers as packaging
PDWHULDO DQG VKLIWLQJ WR JUHHQ SDFNDJLQJ :LWK PRUH Plastic milk pouches may make
than 5,000 restaurants in the capital and around three
popular food delivery aggregators offering their services way for PET bottles
on a daily basis, the amount of refuse generated in the
he dairy industry in the Maharashtra State is
Tplanning to package milk in PET bottles rather than
plastic pouches to align with the Environment Ministry’s
Extended Producer Responsibilities (EPR) guidelines.
,Q 0DKDUDVKWUD RI WKH FURUH OLWUHV RI PLON
produced, is packed in plastic pouches and 2.4 crore
milk pouches (500ml) are used every day. The State
government had asked the dairy industry to set up a
system of collecting used milk pouches, but consumers’
inability to wash and store pouches and the high cost
of collecting used pouches led the industry to consider
form of packaging material is anybody's guess. After the PET bottles. Key stakeholders in the industry feel that
food delivery aggregators scaled up their services in the it is the ideal alternative as it is reusable, resealable,
city, the pile of food and plastic waste associated with easy to collect and the most-recycled plastic globally.
packaged food has shot up. Earlier the civic body had
convened a meeting with the representatives of the hotels 7KH UDWH RI UHF\FOLQJ 3(7 ERWWOHV LV LQ ,QGLD
which is far higher in comparison to other packaging
and food delivery aggregators. And now, to further its
resolve of bringing the food delivery systems under the PDWHULDOV OLNH WHWUD SDN EULFN FDUWRQV DQG
Green Protocol, the corporation will initiate the second JODVV ERWWOHV DFFRUGLQJ WR LQGXVWU\ HVWLPDWHV
Prakash Kutwal, founder and chairman of Kutwal Foods,
level of talks and enforce it. “The responsibility of serving said, “It is not economically viable to collect used
in eco-friendly packaging falls on both the restaurants and pouches. As recycled PET bottles attract a higher cost,
the food delivery aggregators. The second round of talks the rate of their collection
will be called soon. The corporation cannot solely enforce and recycling will also
this and the government needs to involve themselves in be high.” Vishnu Hinge,
this," says Mayor V K Prasanth. "Our suggestion earlier was chairman of Pune District
to incorporate details about Green Protocol and green Milk Producers Federation,
packaging in their apps. They can charge extra from the said though tetra pak offers
customer if they opt for green packaging but such an ease in transportation
option needs to be given.The representatives said they and attractive packaging
will consult their companies and get back. Several options options, it is not consumer-,
are being pursued, including putting steel packaging on business- or environment-
the rolls or using eco-friendly packaging. The packaging friendly option, and will
ZDVWH LV D VLJQLÀFDQW SHU FHQW RI WKH ZDVWH JHQHUDWHG LQ increase the cost of milk
the capital. And that prompted us to launch measures to by Rs 6 to Rs 7 per litre. In India, 12 lakh litres of milk
FRQWURO LW µ KH VD\V .+5$ KDV VDLG LW KDV DOUHDG\ QRWLÀHG is packed in PET bottles daily. Some of the big players
the restaurants in the capital to adhere to eco-friendly in the State that use PET bottles for packaging fresh
norms in their packaging, but that it cannot make it
milk are Pride of Cows and Happy Milks.

60
Plastics News May 2019 62