Resources are limited. Therefore, optimal utilisation of resources is critical since any wastage is not only an avoidable cost but also compounds the nature's need to regenerate.​

 

At ITC, we are dedicated to promoting circularity and waste management. Serving national priorities, our efforts are also aligned with the nation's Swachh Bharat Mission to create a cleaner and more sustainable environment. ITC takes a holistic approach towards enabling the circular economy by focussing on the entire waste value chain. We are continuously innovating to minimise waste in our operations, improve recyclability, optimise packaging and develop sustainable alternatives to plastics. Beyond our operations, we have also focused on management of post-consumer plastic packaging waste by evolving sustainable and scalable solutions based on the principles of a circular economy.​

 

Waste generation, particularly plastic waste, has soared steeply in India, which mostly make their way to landfills, posing a serious public health risk and environmental hazard while contributing to increasing GHG emissions. At ITC, we have implemented innovative, sustainable, replicable and scalable management solutions to tackle the solid waste challenge, including plastic waste. Our initiatives promote source segregation through behavioural change programmes and ensures higher collection and recycling of solid wastes including multilayered laminates/plastic packaging.​

ITC's Circularity Interventions
Reducing waste generation at ITC Units
Sustainable Packaging
Well-Being Out of Waste
Solid Waste Management Contribution to Swachh Bharat Mission
Green Temples

ITC's Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Packaging & Material Sciences at LSTC fosters cutting edge R&D​

 

- ITC is solid waste recycling positive for 18 years.

- ITC is Plastic-neutral for the third consecutive year.

Well-Being Out of Waste (WOW)

Our flagship waste recycling programme, Well-Being Out of Waste (WOW), fosters the creation of a clean & green environment while promoting sustainable livelihoods for waste collectors.

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WOW has created various waste management models tailored for small and medium towns as well as metro cities. Its unique source-segregation-and-collection pathway re-consumes waste to support a circular economy. By raising awareness about the importance of source segregation and recycling, it also fosters behavioural change. Moreover, WOW has enhanced livelihoods of waste handlers and rag-pickers and created opportunities for social entrepreneurs. The initiative is present in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai, Delhi, major towns of Telangana and several districts of Andhra Pradesh.

 

WOW's recycling system
Waste segregation by households
Preliminary category-wise segregation by waste collection workers
Sorting at dry resource collection centres (DRCCs)
Super franchisees - Large-scale waste aggregators
Impact
Reached over 2.9 crore citizens (since inception)
Sustainable livelihoods for 17,900+ waste collectors 150+ social entrepreneurs
Collected 67,100 MT of dry waste in 2024-25
Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste Management - Contributing to Swachh Bharat Mission​

We also contribute to the Swachh Bharat Mission through our Solid Waste Management (SWM) programme. The SWM models are decentralised and community-owned, and focus on towns, villages and temples. The programme seeks to minimise dry and wet waste to landfill by promoting waste segregation at source.​

 

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Solutions for Urban Waste​

 

As part of our SWM programme, ITC partners with urban local bodies (ULB) to promote decentralised urban waste management (UWM) systems. The Company trains and handholds these ULBs to create garbage-free cities by setting up decentralised waste management systems and by encouraging households to pay for their waste management. It also monitors the systems.​

 

Waste Management in Rural India​

 

We are enhancing waste management in rural households and panchayats across 10 States through public-private partnerships like the Ganga Gram Rural SWM partnership with the Lohiya Swachh Bihar Abhiyan. The programme focuses on community engagement and ownership, creating community champions to help households and panchayats adopt waste management practices.​

 

 

Impact
Spanning 28 districts in 11 States
Covering over 6 million households
400,000+ tonnes waste collected
Green Temples

The Green Temple initiative is another successful example of waste management. In this, waste generated in places of worship, such as fruits, leaves and flowers, is processed to produce biogas for temple kitchens and compost for their gardens.​

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Impact
Over 1,450 places of worship process temple waste into biogas and compost
Sustainability Packaging

ITC is developing sustainable packaging solutions by leveraging its R&D capabilities, reaffirming its commitment to sustainability. The Company's Paperboards and Packaging Businesses are leading the endeavour to create sustainable packaging solutions. 

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Collaboration for Change:

 

ITC has signed 15 MoUs with local bodies for Waste Management

Targets for 2030

ITC believes that the road to net zero is intrinsically linked to a circular economy. Hence, its future goals include:

100% packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable / biodegradable by 2028
Sustain plastic neutrality (attained in FY'22) by enabling sustainable management of waste in excess of the amount of packaging utilised.
Contribution to National Priorities
Swachh Bharat 2.0
Alignment to SDGs
Awards and Certifications
ITC's Packaging and Printing Business won 8 WorldStar Packaging Awards from World Packaging Organisation in the last three years
Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division (PSPD) won Asia-Pacific Sustainability Award at IDC Future Enterprise Awards 2023
FiloPack received the prestigious Flustix Plastic-Free certification. Mangaldeep Temple Series packaging won the Sanctum & Divinity SIES SOP Star Awards 2023. Bioseal's innovation to replace plastic packaging with sustainable paper-based alternatives for a major consumer electronics and wearable brand won the IFCA Star Awards 2023 and SIES SOP Star Awards 2023.
PSPD's Bhadrachalam unit received GreenCo Platinum+ rating from CII