Leading consumer companies announce sustainable milestones, targets on World Environment Day

Leading consumer goods companies -- including ITC, Dabur, Coca-Cola, and DS Group -- on Monday announced new sustainable milestones and targets on World Environment Day.

The companies are setting targets like being carbon neutral, scaling up investments in sustainable packaging, reducing the usage of plastic in packaging and harnessing green energy. Homegrown FMCG and ayurvedic products maker Dabur India announced to be a plastic waste positive by collecting, processing and recycling more plastic waste than it sold in its product packaging in FY23.

ITC scaled up its sustainable packaging offerings for plastic substitution and announced several measures to reduce the utilisation of plastic across products and businesses -- ranging from its packaging and food to the hotel business.

Beverage major Coca-Cola India on Monday announced to launch of new bottles made from completely recycled PET plastic material (rPET) in Andhra Pradesh. ''This is the first time in India that any bottle made with 100 per cent rPET is being used for food/beverage,'' said Coca-Cola India in a statement.

rPET bottles are made from food-grade recycled PET, said the beverage major. It has set a goal of using at least 50 per cent recycled content in its packaging by 2030.

ITC on World Environment Day 2023 reaffirmed its commitment to address the issue of plastic waste management through its multi-dimensional initiatives. The company has been scaling up its investment in developing innovative and eco-friendly packaging solutions that can substitute single-use plastics.

ITC sustained its Plastic Neutrality status for the second consecutive year by sustainably managing 60,000 MT of plastic waste in FY23, which is more than the amount of packaging utilised.

ITC Executive Director B Sumant said: ''At ITC, we have put in place comprehensive interventions for waste management with a focus on plastics. Our Paperboards, Paper and Packaging Businesses continue to pioneer sustainable packaging solutions that can substitute single-use plastics''.

Many ITC brands and businesses have also innovated to reduce the usage of plastics in line with our commitment to creating a positive environmental footprint, he said.

ITC's paperboards, paper and packaging Businesses are at the forefront of innovation in packaging solutions, which substitute the use of single-use plastics. It had extended its sustainable packaging initiatives to its own personal care products as well. ''Several of ITC's personal care brands are progressively adopting recyclable options. For instance, Fiama Shower Gel bottles now incorporate 50 per cent post-consumer recycled material, while Savlon Glycerine Soap Wrapper utilizes 70 per cent post-consumer recycled plastic in its PET layer. In the case of Engage Perfume and Cologne bottles, the brand has shifted to 100 per cent paper-based recyclable cartons,'' it said.

ITC's Hotels Business has replaced plastic water bottles with eco-friendly glass bottles.

Dabur India announced to become a 'Plastic Waste Positive' firm after having collected, processed and recycled 35,000 MT of post-consumer plastic waste from all over India in 2022-23. ''With this, Dabur has become the first Indian consumer goods company to achieve this landmark,'' the company said in a statement.

Now, Dabur collects, processes and recycles more plastic waste than it sells in its product packaging in a year, said Dabur India Head-Operations Rahul Awasthi. ''It is a matter of great pride for the entire Dabur family, who have worked towards not just collecting plastic waste from our cities, towns and villages across the country, but also preventing the waste from reaching our landfills and oceans. This includes all types of plastic waste, from PET and HDPE bottles, PP caps and labels to multi-layered plastics and beverage cartons,'' he said.

DS Group, which owns FMCG brands like Catch, Pass Pass etc said it has taken various sustainability initiatives in areas of energy management, water management, material conservation, recycling & waste management and enhancing green footprint. ''Our sustainability initiatives are spread across the country and in the area of energy management, water management, material conservation, recycling and waste management. This aligns our business, social and environmental objectives to make a significant contribution to society and the country,'' said DS Group Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar.

While leading glass maker Saint-Gobain Glass announced to launch the production of a new glass with a low carbon footprint. The product should have an estimated carbon footprint reduction of approximately 40 per cent compared to the existing Saint-Gobain Glass India products.

''Such environmental performances could be reached thanks to the use of 2/3rd of recycled content as raw material, natural gas, and electricity from renewable energy sources,'' said a statement from Saint-Gobain India.

''It is not a coincidence that the product launch of India's first low carbon glass is taking place on "World Environment Day". It is a concerted effort from Saint-Gobain to continue to sustainably contribute to the Indian Construction Industry,'' said its India - Glass Business Managing Director A R Unnikrishnan.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)