WIll recycle more than it will use.
ITC, which has been solid waste recycling positive for over 13 years, is now all set to move beyond plastic waste neutrality next fiscal. The company will replace and recycle more plastic than it would use through its operations this year.
For a company with large-scale operations in FMCG and hospitality, this has been made possible through the scaling up of a slew of holistic initiatives pivoted around in-house innovation in packaging materials, robust waste management programs which focuses on source segregation, sustainable business practices, and social business models with mass impact.
ITC’s ‘Well-being out of Waste” program today covers over 13 million citizens addressing municipal solid waste management. It aims to ensure that 100% of its packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable in the next decade. In addition, it has established a Centre of Excellence to progress on sustainable packaging, with some solutions already made commercially available.
The company is set to collect more than 30,000 tonnes of plastic waste this fiscal year from 24 States, which is more than double that of last year’s collections. In the ensuing fiscal, ITC’s collections will exceed 100% of plastic packaging introduced in the market.
ITC has adopted a multi-pronged approach to reduce plastic in the company’s operations spanning FMCG, hotels, paperboards and packaging, agri-business and IT. This includes creating robust next-generation environment friendly packaging solutions, mega-scale waste collection program under its flagship waste management initiative ‘WOW – Well-Being Out of Waste’ as well as focussed interventions in rural areas; a culture of plastic-free operations, in line with its philosophy of ‘Responsible Luxury’ to eliminate single-use plastic usage in ITC Hotels; and innovative models for sustainability which have plastic reduction and management at their core.