CHANDIGARH: The state-owned Milkfed used around 80 crore plastic pouches to sell milk and dairy products in 2018-19, the Punjab Assembly was informed on Monday.
Replying to a question in the ongoing budget session here, the state health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said: "To produce these plastic bags, 1,803.679 metric tonne of plastic film was used." Of the total 1,25,988 lakh litres of milk processed in the organised sector in the state in 2018-19, Milkfed (Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation) processed 5,991.76 lakh litres of milk.
Congress MLA Avtar Singh Junior said that plastic was a big source of pollution and health hazard and asked the minister whether the state government would end use of plastic bags in milk while pointing out that Mother Dairy in Delhi had installed dispensing units at several places for milk supplies.
To this, Sidhu said this matter was under consideration of the state government and would soon be implemented.