ITC will recycle more plastic than it uses next fiscal

ITC, which has been solid waste recycling positive for over 13 years, is now all set to move beyond plastic waste neutrality

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. The company will replace and recycle more plastic than it would use through its operations this year.

"ITC's Sustainability 2.0 vision encompasses an ambitious roadmap towards new benchmarks in enabling a circular economy that reduces, reuses and recycles waste to optimize resource use and lessen the burden on the planet," said Sanjiv Puri, chairman & MD at ITC. "ITC's 'Well-being out of Waste" program today covers over 13 million citizens addressing municipal solid waste management. We aim to ensure that 100% of our packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable in the next decade. In addition, we have established a Centre of Excellence to progress on sustainable packaging, with some solutions already made commercially available," he added.

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. 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.

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