%E2%80%9D+programme+to+include+rag+pickers+and+municipal+workers.jpg "Wealth Out of Waste (WOW)” programme to include rag pickers and municipal workers")
As a pilot project, ITC has today associated with the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to extend the WOW programme for rag-pickers and municipal workers in 10 selected wards of Bengaluru. The programme will cover all segments like households, offices, shops, schools, other educational institutions, malls, supermarkets, banks, hotels and hospitals. The pilot programme also seeks to ensure collection of post-consumer FMCG waste, which has today become a major source of litter in the city. It is also expected that increasing the quantum of dry recyclable waste, will substantially improve the incomes of rag-pickers and municipal workers. In addition, BBMP will also support this initiative by providing Dry Waste collection Centres in each ward and ensuring that waste segregation is strictly implemented by their staff in each ward.
Present at the event, Mr M Lakshminarayana, IAS, Commissioner, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said, “ITC’s WOW programme is in line with our vision to make Bangalore a zero garbage city. It is imperative to educate people and inculcate the habit of segregation of waste at source. We are happy to be associated with this responsible corporate and appreciate their efforts in bringing in such a novel programme to our city.”
As part of the programme, ITC will provide necessary training to the rag-pickers and municipal workers on source segregation of dry waste and sorting into various categories like paper, plastic, glass and metal for recycling. They will implement the programme across the selected wards by providing durable HDPE bags to each household, shop, office and other collection centres. The rag-pickers and municipal workers will be compensated for the quantity of recyclables they bring at market prices. It is expected that their incomes should go up by at least Rs.3,000/- per month, which will substantially improve their living conditions and their socio-economic status.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Chitranjan Dar, Divisional Chief Executive, Foods Division, ITC Limited, said, “ITC’s WOW programme has been successful in bringing to fore the importance of source segregation and recycling. The programme’s acceptance and support of various Southern states have positively motivated us at ITC to keep the momentum alive to make our Earth a better and greener place to live in.”
ITC’s ‘Wealth out of Waste’ programme creates awareness among general public about the “Reduce-Reuse-Recycle” approach and to inculcate the habit of source segregation. In line with ITC’s commitment to sustainable natural resource management, the WOW programme seeks to protect the environment, reduce the impact of global warming, improve green cover, reduce landfills, improve ground water quality, improve general health and hygiene, reduce garbage handling costs, improve civic amenities and also to provide cost competitive raw material to paper, plastics, metal and glass industries.
The pilot programme to include BBMP workers and rag-pickers was kick started on 20th June, 2013 with environmental quiz programmes, painting competitions, recyclables collection campaigns, road shows and slogan contests covering the entire city of Benguluru. These efforts have gone a long way to create large-scale awareness towards making the city clean and green.
In addition, the third anniversary of the National Recycling Day will be celebrated on July 1, 2013 at National College Grounds, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru. Pioneered by ITC in 2010, the National Recycling Day is a one-of-its-kind initiative in the world, and has today gained widespread support and recognition across various sections of society. The National Reycling Day celebrations will be graced by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri K Siddaramaiah as well as other dignitaries.
ITC Limited
ITC is one of India's largest diversified conglomerates with interests in FMCG (Branded Packaged Foods, Personal Care Products, Cigarettes, Education and Stationery Products, Lifestyle Retailing, Incense Sticks and Safety Matches), Hotels, Paperboards and Packaging, Agri Business and Information Technology. With a market capitalisation of over US$ 45 billion and a turnover of US$ 7 billion, ITC is acknowledged as one of India’s most valuable corporations. It has been ranked as the world’s sixth largest 'sustainable value creator' among consumer goods companies globally, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group ITC Chairman Mr Y C Deveshwar was ranked the 7th Best Performing CEO in the world by the Harvard Business Review in its January-February 2013 edition.
It has also been ITC’s long-standing vision to create larger societal and environmental capital and sub-serve larger national priorities. ITC’s strong competitive capabilities, constant innovation and inclusive business models have enabled it to create more than 5 million sustainable livelihoods across value chains and touching the lives of many living at the margins in rural India. ITC is also the only company in the world that continues to be carbon positive (8 years in a row), water positive (11 consecutive years) and solid waste recycling positive (6 years in a row). Today, more than 40 % of the total energy requirements of the Company are met from renewable sources. All ITC's premium luxury hotels have the unique distinction of being LEED Platinum certified, making it the world's greenest luxury hotel chain. In recognition for its exemplary sustainability efforts, ITC was also honoured with the World Business and Development Award 2012 at the historic Rio+20 United Nations Summit.
ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division
ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division is India's largest, technologically advanced and most eco-friendly, paper and paperboards business. The business caters to a wide spectrum of packaging, graphic, communication, writing, printing and specialty paper requirements through its four world-class manufacturing units, 7 sales offices and a network of more than 50 dealers in India, along with an international trade network of 18 distributors/ agents.
The division also established the country’s first Elemental Chlorine Free fibre line and Ozone Bleaching technology. It is also the first company in the country to gain membership of the Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Having pioneered many specialty applications like opaque papers, food grade packaging boards and tele-card boards, ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers business enjoys market leadership in the value-added paperboards segment, and also has a significant share of the Indian fine papers market. It is the largest exporter of coated boards from India. Committed to developing a sustainable raw material base, it has pioneered the social and farm forestry programme which has greened over 142000 hectares and created over 64 million person days of employment for tribals and marginal farmers. All 4 of its manufacturing facilities are FSC-Chain of Custody certified. ITC’s Paperboards Unit at Bhadrachalam has been awarded the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Forest Management certification by the Rainforest Alliance.
