In a first for India’s dairy industry, Mother Dairy on Tuesday unveiled a milk pouch that naturally degrades in soil, an innovation the company says could help address the mounting challenge of plastic waste generated by milk packaging.The new packaging, to be introduced with Mother Dairy’s popular cow milk variant across Delhi-NCR from June 5, World Environment Day, is designed to break down into bioavailable wax that is further decomposed by microbes in the soil, leaving behind natural elements without generating microplastics.The launch comes against the backdrop of India’s growing plastic waste burden. Industry estimates suggest that more than 100 million milk pouches are discarded every day across the country, translating into over 36 billion pouches annually and generating nearly 1.5-2 lakh tonnes of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) waste every year.Speaking at the launch, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) Chairman and Mother Dairy Chairman Dr Meenesh Shah said the innovation was the result of over four years of research and would not affect milk prices, quality, taste or shelf life.”India is the world’s largest milk producer, and sustainability must remain central to the dairy sector’s growth. This packaging is designed to degrade naturally in soil within a few years rather than centuries,” Shah said.Mother Dairy Managing Director Jayatheertha Chary said the new pouch would continue to be recyclable like conventional milk packets but would offer an additional environmental advantage if not recovered through recycling channels.The company estimates that nearly half of all milk pouches currently enter recycling streams, while the remainder often ends up in landfills or the environment as “fugitive plastic”. The new technology aims to reduce the long-term environmental footprint of such discarded packaging.Initially, the degradable pouch will be rolled out for Mother Dairy’s cow milk variant in Delhi-NCR, which accounts for a significant share of the company’s daily milk sales. Of the approximately 40 lakh litres of milk sold by Mother Dairy every day in Delhi-NCR, the cow milk variant contributes about 35 per cent.