Godrej & Boyce becomes first Indian companies towards packaging plastic negative
Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of Godrej Group has gone beyond, when it comes to achieving its plastic recycling targets under EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) and has recycled more than double of what it has consumed in its operations. At a time when organizations are formulating long-term strategies to offset 100% of plastic that they use and become plastic neutral, Godrej & Boyce has recycled 146% and 201% in 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively. This makes it one of the first organizations in India to become packaging plastic negative by recovering a significantly greater amount of plastic from the environment than its usage.
In 2020-21, Godrej & Boyce has recycled 3264 tons of packaging plastic waste as against 1616 tons of consumption and previously in 2019-20, the company recycled 2261 tons of plastic waste as compared to 1547 tons of consumption. The company has achieved this by adopting the ‘5R process’, i.e. Redesign – Reduce – Reuse – Recycle – Recovery as against a ‘3R process’ (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) that is generally followed. Multiple other initiatives were also taken including their switch to bio-degradable packaging to the extent possible, eliminating single use plastic completely, identifying and eliminating use of unwanted plastic during the design stage, supporting development and boosting the plastic waste management ecosystem in India, achieving equitable geographical spread across states having G&B’s business presence, offering product stewardship options to customers and going beyond compliance to make a meaningful difference to the environment.
The organization has also undertaken a slew of initiatives to manage solid waste such as elimination wherever possible or reduction in the use of toxic material. This has resulted in reducing 50% hazardous waste generation over last decade, zero waste to landfill for all non-hazardous wastes by adopting appropriate recycling channels through partners, zero municipal solid waste (MSW) to landfill at Pirojshanagar township at Vikhroli by onsite processing of this waste since 2014-15 and recycling of construction debris through recycled construction materials plant. Till date, Godrej & Boyce has cumulatively recycled 20000+ tons of MSW, 25000+ tons of construction & demolition waste in addition to 40000+ tons of E-waste under EPR program.
The organisation was also recognised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), as they felicitated Godrej & Boyce with two awards at the recently concluded 3R Awards. These were the Excellence in managing plastic & packaging waste by EPR Strategies and Excellence in managing municipal solid waste for their contribution to enable a better tomorrow leveraging innovation and technology.
The company aims to continue meeting its circular economy targets by maintaining zero waste to landfill for all non-hazardous solid wastes including plastics generated in manufacturing, 100% offset of packaging plastic waste through EPR and increasing use of recycled content in packaging material used.
Furthermore, Godrej & Boyce has joined India Plastics Pact, as a founding member. A first of its kind in Asia, the pact is a joint initiative between CII’s Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CII-CESD) and WWF India and has been established with the goal of envisioning 'A world where plastic is valued and does not pollute the environment.'