Nandini is a very famous milk brand in both urban and rural areas of Bangalore. They have recently launched a biodegradable milk pouch using corn starch. Until now, plastics have been used for packaging. Though we say that the packets can be recycled, not all the packets that are produced and utilized goes for recycling. I don't believe much on recycling. Most of these products that claim to create recycling packages fail to achieve significant recycling success, often ending up in landfills.
I have always wondered whether plastic packets used for packing milk were a bad innovation. I understand that it is important to distribute milk safe and secure, and plastic packaging helps to some extent but somehow there is a chance for consuming microplastics in that process, and at the same time, disposal is also a problem. My mother used to say that there were bottles before plastics were invented. We are the unlucky generation to have lived with this plastic innovation. For many reasons, plastics are good, but they are very harmful for many things too.
The new packaging pouches are made of Corn starch that can decompose in about 6 months, whereas a plastic pouch can take several centuries, and even then, we cannot be sure if it will be fully broken down. I would say that this is a great innovation and it should be used by other states and even other places across the world. They say that the cost is elevated by 5 percent compared to the regular plastic packaging, but that is something that should sustain in the long run, considering that fact that it is good for both the environment as well as human health.
This has always been very disturbing for me to see milk and other food products packed in plastic. It is very heartbreaking to see all these going into the land fills and staying there for several decades and centuries. Some alternative solution has to be made, and this corn starch solution is a great one and other states should understand the formula and start implementing it.
Going back to glass bottles is also a solution that is being practiced in some places. I know a few direct cow milk dealers giving the milk in glass bottles. People return the bottles back to the dealers and get it cleaned in hot water before reuse. Compared to that, if we can come up with corn starch solution, it will be excellent.
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