For over a quarter of a century, ITC has pursued a path to lead as an exemplar in sustainability. Their large-scale sustainability programmes focus on addressing climate change, replenishing natural resources, ensuring water security, promoting circularity, developing a resilient supply chain, driving product sustainability, and strengthening livelihoods. ITC has been a carbon positive, water positive and solid waste recycling positive company for past several years. At ITC, sustainability is integral to the business strategy, which is reflected in the company’s superior triple bottom line performance, which cascades down to all levels of the organisation.
Responsible Sourcing
The Social and Farm Forestry programme by ITC’s Paperboards & Specialty Papers Division (ITC PSPD) was started to promote sustainable forest management practices in the value chain and secure the supply of pulpwood for its paper mills. Apart from sequestering carbon, this programme provides significant environmental benefits, such as improving the productivity of the wasteland. ITC provides high-yielding clonal saplings to farmers, along with technical support and extension services for tree farming. This helps alleviate risks for farmers by providing alternate tree-based revenue. This extensive Afforestation Programme has created a green cover of over 1.1 million acres, supporting over 212 million person-days of employment for farmers while creating a sustainable and competitive fibre chain for ITC PSPD.
ITC has the distinction of being the first in India to have obtained the Forest Stewardship Council®-Forest Management (FSC®-FM) certification, which confirms compliance with the highest international benchmarks of plantations management across the dimensions of environmental responsibility, social benefit, and economic viability. Till date, ITC PSPD has received FSC®-FM certification for close to 1.49 lakh acres of plantations involving over 25,000 farmers. ITC PSPD is also the leading supplier of FSC® certified paper and paperboards in India.
Climate Action: Transitioning to a Low Carbon Economy
ITC PSPD focusses on energy efficiency through process improvements, and investing in low-carbon technologies. ITC PSPD has reduced its specific GHG emissions by 25% in FY24 over FY19.
ITC has been a pioneer in the adoption of renewable energy technologies to meet its energy requirements. In the last 15 years, it has traversed an incredible journey of greening its operations by continuously expanding its renewable energy portfolio. Significant investments have been made in a high-efficiency recovery boiler in Unit Bhadrachalam that reduces over 1,50,000 tonnes of coal per year, expanding ITC’s renewable energy footprint. ITC PSPD has already achieved its 2030 target of 50% share of renewable energy in FY24 itself. In addition, Unit Bollaram runs on ~100% renewable electricity.
Waste Management: Towards Circularity
ITC has successfully implemented multiple large-scale models of solid waste management, including plastic waste, across the country. These models, based on principles of circular economy, are scalable, replicable, and sustainable, and they have enabled ITC to sustain its plastic-neutral status since FY 2021-22. From sprawling metros to small and medium towns, different models of waste management were implemented under ITC’s flagship ‘WellBeing Out of Waste’ (WOW) programme. The programme is centred on the following pillars:
- Partnering with Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Panchayats to facilitate door-to-door collection of segregated waste
- Supporting sustainable livelihoods for waste collection workers
- Identifying and implementing suitable end of-life solutions for each waste stream
WOW’s outreach spans over 25 million citizens across 6.4 million households, 6.7 million school children and over 2,200 corporates since its inception. The programme has supported sustainable livelihoods for over 17,800 waste collectors and has also created 150 social entrepreneurs.
In FY 2023-24, ITC collected and sustainably managed ~70,000 tonnes of plastic waste across India, which is more than the plastic packaging utilised by the company, sustaining its plastic neutral status for 3 years in a row.
Within ITC’s own operations, waste is minimised through systematic monitoring and improvement of efficiencies in material utilisation as well as by maximising recycling.
Watch: In Pursuit of Lesser Water Footprint
Water Stewardship
ITC is spearheading the implementation of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) standard, which is a credible, globally applicable, and recognised framework for ensuring sustainable water management within the wider water catchment context. ITC PSPD, Units Bhadrachalam & Kovai have achieved Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Platinum Certification.
Over the years, ITC has created rainwater harvesting potential through extensive investments in its Integrated Watershed Development Projects. The programme promotes the development and management of local water resources in moisture-stressed areas by facilitating community participation in planning and implementing such measures while building, reviving, and maintaining water-harvesting structures. The coverage of the Integrated Watershed Development projects extends to over 1.63 million acres of land. As of March 31, 2024, a total rainwater harvesting potential (RWH) of over 54 million kl has been created. This potential created by ITC is over 4 times the net water consumption in FY 2023-24.
Within ITC’s factories, water stewardship involves improving water-use efficiencies by adopting the latest technologies and increasing reuse and recycling practices in operations. Specific water consumption of ITC PSPD has reduced by 11% in FY24 over FY19.
Sustainable Packaging
As a leading Paperboards & Paper Company, ITC is also leading the way by introducing more recyclable and sustainable packaging solutions in the market, including innovative paperboard-based plastic substitution solutions. ITC’s ‘Filo’ series of sustainable paperboards has gained significant traction in the industry, both in India and abroad.
Contribution to Inclusive Development
Fostering inclusive growth and promoting the well-being of local communities, ITC has designed large-scale programmes that support the livelihoods of millions of farmers and households in India. ITC’s Social Investments Programme, Mission Sunehra Kal, has adopted a two-horizon approach for sustainable livelihood generation, focussing on the holistic development of households and keeping women and other vulnerable sections of society at the core. Horizon I focusses on strengthening the dominant sources of livelihoods in agri-communities by promoting climate-smart agriculture, providing access to critical natural resources like water, and helping households diversify into off-farm and other on-farm activities. Horizon II aims at building capabilities for the future through programmes for women’s empowerment, support for education, and public health, including maternal and child health, skilling, etc. Today, ITC’s businesses and inclusive value chains support over 6 million livelihoods.
Also Read: JK Paper Turning Challenges into Environmental Triumphs
Recognition
ITC continues to receive global acknowledgment for their sustainability performance. The company entered into the prestigious ‘A’ League for ‘CDP Water’ and retained the ‘A-Leadership’ in ‘CDP Climate’ for the third consecutive year. ITC has also sustained its ‘AA’ rating by MSCI-ESG for 5 years now and is featured in the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index for the 4th year in a row.
The Next Horizon
ITC is actively working towards Sustainability 2.0, an agenda that reimagines sustainability under the pressing challenges of climate change and social inequity. Sustainability 2.0 calls for inclusive strategies that can support sustainable livelihoods, pursue newer ways to fight climate change, enable the transition to a net-zero economy, work towards ensuring water security for all, and create an effective circular economy for post-consumer packaging waste. It also entails protecting and restoring biodiversity, and ecosystem services by adopting nature-based solutions.
ITC’s FiloPack: A Game-Changer in Annapoorna’s Eco-friendly Packaging Journey
Annapoorna, a 55-year-old legacy pure vegetarian restaurant chain in Coimbatore, wanted to enhance its packaging to match the quality of its dishes and align with its eco-friendly brand image. The initial packaging had issues with food sticking to the carton and was not environmentally friendly due to its plastic lining. In response, ITC’s Paperboards business collaborated with the box manufacturer to introduce a new design based on “FiloPack” a certified recyclable and industrially compostable paperboard. This solution provided a high grease and oil barrier, effectively addressing the previous issues. The new packaging was an immediate success across Annapoorna’s 21 outlets. It not only met the standards of cleanliness and hygiene but also enhanced the brand’s reputation for quality and environmental responsibility.
