Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

ITC India Achieves Plastic Waste-Neutral Milestone

The company's waste management initiatives ensure that lesser waste goes into landfills and enable larger value recovery, thereby creating sustainable livelihoods for waste collectors
April 6, 2022
ITC India
Picture used for representational purpose only. Photo credit- Flickr

In line with last year’s commitment, ITC has moved from plastic neutrality at ITC 2021-22 by formulating an integrated solid waste management programme that includes unique and multi-faceted initiatives.

The company collects and manages 54,000 tonnes of plastic waste on a sustainable basis in 35 states and union territories. The volume of plastic waste managed is more than the amount of plastic packaging used by ITC, enabling the company to achieve the milestone of plastic neutrality.

For more than a decade, the company has been running a holistic 360-degree solid waste management program based on the principles of a circular economy and encompassing the entire waste value chain.

For a company with large scale operations in FMCG and hospitality, going beyond plastic neutrality is a commendable achievement. This is another milestone in ITC’s commitment to growing environmental and social capital in line with Chairman Sanjiv Puri’s Sustainability 2.0 vision, which calls for inclusive strategies that can support more livelihoods and new paths to tackle climate change.

ITC has achieved this milestone by expanding its portfolio of holistic enterprises with in-house innovation, strong waste management programs focused on resource segregation and sustainable business practices with broad impact.

“Through a large-scale and integrated solid waste management programme, ITC moved beyond plastic neutrality this year. In addition, the company is also using cutting-edge innovations to develop sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging for the industry,” Sanjiv Rangrass, group head, ITC Life Sciences & Technology, Central Projects, EHS & Quality Assurance, ITC Ltd., said in a statement.

He further said, “The efforts to move beyond plastic neutrality and sustainable management of waste will continue apace in the years ahead as part of our Sustainability 2.0 agenda.”

ITC has taken a multifaceted approach to reducing plastics in the company’s operations in a wide range of rapidly growing consumer goods, hotels, paperboard and packaging. These include creating powerful next-generation eco-friendly packaging solutions, large-scale waste collection programs under its flagship waste management initiative, ITC Wah – Well-Being Out of Waste, as well as interventions focused in rural areas; culture of plastic-free operations – in line with the philosophy of ‘responsible luxury’ to eliminate the use of single-use plastics in ITC hotels; and innovative models for sustainability that lies in the reduction and management of plastics.

According to the company, it has been recycling over 99 percemt of its waste for over a decade.