Pepsi, Coca-Cola stirred up as India refuses to exempt plastic straws from ban

The ban on items such as straws packed with juice and small packs of dairy products, which generate $790 million in annual sales, is part of India’s campaign to crack down on polluting, single-use plastic waste that clogs rivers and streams. clog the drains.

Praveen Agarwal, chief executive of Action Alliance for Recycling Beverage Cartons (AARC), an industry group, said, “We are worried because it comes during a season of peak demand,” said India’s hot summer temperatures.

“Consumers and brand owners will face major disruptions.”

For months, their alliance, which is a conglomerate of PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, India’s Parle Agro, Dabur and milk firms, has lobbied for the straw to be exempt, saying there was no alternative.

Agarwal’s remarks came after the environment ministry rejected the group’s demands, saying in an April 6 memorandum that the industry should “move towards alternatives”, after being given more than a year’s notice of the change.

The environment ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pepsi declined to comment, while Coca-Cola and other companies did not respond to questions.

Extremely popular for affordable rates as low as Rs 5 to 30 or 7 US cents to 40 US cents, the small packs are part of India’s much larger market for juice and milk products, says AARC.

Pepsi’s Tropicana and Dabur’s Real fruit juices, along with Coca-Cola’s Maaza and Parle Agro’s Fruity Mango drinks, are among the beverages sold in small-pack formats, and packaged straws allow shoppers to quench their thirst on the go. give.

The AARC has repeatedly prompted the government to exempt such straws from its ban, saying that countries such as Australia, China and Malaysia have criticized their use in letters sent to the environment ministry in October and seen by Reuters. use was permitted.

A source familiar with the government’s thinking, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government believes such small straws are a “low-utility product” that leads to garbage and is recycled into paper. Should be scraped for straw or spout pouches.

Chitra Mukherjee, a waste management expert in the capital New Delhi, said all types of plastic straws should be banned as they are one of the top 10 types of marine debris.

But three senior industry executives said their companies feared disruption in the supply of juices and drinks, while turning to alternatives could drive up product costs and hit business.

Aggarwal said the industry would need at least 15 to 18 months to build a supply-chain solution with other types of straws.

“We will try to convince the government again,” he said.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.