Initiative  covers 77 lakh people in the country

ITC Ltd, a frontrunner in  Solid Waste Management in India by virtue of its multi-dimensional initiatives,  is committed to scale up its solid waste management programmes and sustain its  leadership position as a Solid Waste Recycling Positive Company. ITC is  attending the World Environment Day celebrations in New Delhi on June 5th  and will also make a pledge relating to the theme of the event. ITC's flagship  initiative "Wellbeing Out of Waste" covers over 77 lakh people in the country  as on this World Environment Day.

ITC's initiatives in solid  waste management of which plastic waste management is a significant component, aim  at providing a 360-degree solutions framework to address the critical issue of waste  management through packaging optimization, resource conservation, recycling of  over 99% of waste generated in its operations, source segregation, collection, reuse  and recycling. The initiatives today extend to 10 states across the country,  covering cities, towns, villages and temples.

In a true spirit of  public-private-people partnership, ITC's waste management models including the  flagship initiative Wellbeing Out of Waste, encompass community awareness,  segregation, promotion of recycling and reuse through capacity building and  development of social entrepreneurship.  100% dry waste including plastic waste is sent  for recycling.

Commenting on the initiatives, Mr. Sanjiv Puri,  Managing Director of ITC Ltd, said, "The problem of solid waste management is  one of epic proportions and requires each organ of the society and more so,  enterprises that are large economic organs of the society, to make a meaningful  contribution towards this in line with the Hon'ble Prime Minister's path  breaking initiative of Swachh Bharat. We in ITC are extremely committed through  our initiative of Wellbeing out of Waste (WOW), which seeks to evolve a  sustainable and a scalable solution to segregate, collect and promote, reuse or  recycle solid waste. The benefits of these are already available to 77 lakh  citizens of the country and over time, we are going to scale this up and  enhance our contribution to the Hon'ble Prime Minister's Vision of Swachh  Bharat."

ITC has also focused on optimising  its packaging to ensure that the environmental impact of post-consumer waste is  minimised without affecting the product integrity.

Other than the Wellbeing Out  of Waste (WOW) programmes that is operational in cities and large towns, ITC  has initiated a number of community-managed projects in villages and towns to  address the issue of waste management. Under ITC's Green Temple initiative, three of Tamil Nadu's eminent temples are turning  their premises into zero garbage zones by recycling the organic waste from daily offerings - benefitting  both the temples and their neighbourhoods with cleaner and healthier surroundings.

From Rashtrapati Bhavan - India's stately Presidential  estate - to the colonies of the national capital, WOW's mantra of household  level waste segregation, composting and recycling is rapidly gaining ground.  ITC is also collaborating with the municipal corporations of Delhi, Hyderabad,  Bengaluru, Saharanpur, Muzaffarpur, among others to ensure cleaner and greener  cities.

WOW works by building  partnerships, giving each stakeholder including rag-pickers and waste workers a  role and responsibility and leveraging their capabilities as productively as  possible. It optimises resources - using existing infrastructure where  available and creating new where required. Designed to be a viable business  model, it creates value for all players and generates employment, boosts  incomes and supports livelihoods for economically backward groups. The  stakeholders involved are households, waste workers, urban local  bodies/municipal corporations.