Large FMCG and Agro-food companies have removed integrated plastic straws from small tetrapaks of fruit juices as well as dairy products after the ban of plastic straws and are shifting to paper-based straws and other alternative sustainable solutions.
Big companies, including Parle Agro, Dabur, Amul, and Mother Dairy, have replaced integrated plastic straws in the tetra paks with alternative, sustainable solutions.
According to the Action Alliance for Recycling Beverage Cartons (AARC), FMCG companies will face challenges in replacing plastic straws, as well as supply disruptions.
The companies are also facing issues such as left over inventory with their stockists and retailers, but they have complied with the government’s decision to ban single-use plastic by importing paper straws and whatever solution is available in the markets, AARC said.
The ban on single-use plastics, including plastic straws, which was announced last year, has come into effect from July 1.
Parle Agro, with brands such as Frooti and Appy Fizz, has started integrating biodegradable straws into its tetra juice packs as per the new guidelines. They have imported paper-based straws for now to meet the deadline, and will move to PLA-based straws soon. PLA straws are compostable and made from corn starch or sugarcane.
This will commence once all the machinery of its business partners for manufacturing PLA straws is installed and commissioned, which will take a few months. Parle has created infrastructure for the same by developing many local MSMEs as business partners to support us and cater to our volume of biodegradable straws.
Mother Dairy is using imported paper straws for its juices and dairy packs being manufactured from July 1 to ensure compliance with the new norms. It has already imported paper straws in order to ensure compliance. Its carton products that come under the purview of being manufactured from July 01, 2022 onwards will now come integrated with paper straws.
Dabur, which sells its own brand of juices, has also started production with integrated paper straws. Dabur has already commenced production of Real juice packs with integrated paper straws.
There has been a lot of discomfort and pain for the retailers holding inventories before June 30. The industry and different bodies had requested for relaxation and better clarity so that the stocks which were lying in the pipelines of the distributors and retailers could be utilized.
Around 2 million retailers who sell these products are going to face lots of problems. It is also possible that their products would be sold without straws, and in that case, consumers are going to face lots of inconveniences.
Of course, the industry would comply only with what is available, and this is going to lead to disruption.
Companies had sought a six-month extension to remove the integrated plastic straws from tetra paks. They cited various issues, including that the country lacks the technology for manufacturing paper straws.
However, the domestic paper industry rejected these claims. Last week, the Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) said the domestic paper industry has enough capacity and technological know-how to manufacture paper for making paper straws and other similar products. Leading dairy cooperative Amul is also working on manufacturing biodegradable straws.