Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited, which owns the Aavin brand, has told the Madras High Court that it was exploring possibilities of selling milk in glass bottles on a pilot basis. Stressing that such packaging would come at a premium cost, it said the success would depend upon public response.
Justices S. Vaidyanathan and P.T. Asha were told by Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran that the proposal was at a very nascent stage and that the federation had disclosed it to the court since it wanted to know whether it was possible to do away with the current practice of selling milk in plastic pouches.
After recording his submission, the judges decided to lead by example on the issue of eradication of harmful plastics from the State and ordered that steps should be taken first to make the campus of the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai as well as the Madurai Bench as plastic-free zones.
They requested the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, as well as all the Bar Associations in Chennai and Madurai to educate lawyers, court staff as well as others regarding the harmful effects of plastics and that it takes 450 years for a single plastic water bottle to decompose.
Since the State government had already banned one-time use plastics, the Bench ordered strict implementation of the ban in every nook and corner of the State. The government officials were directed to implement, in letter and spirit, the periodic instructions issued by the government on the issue.
