With content & collaborations, how Godrej Industries is showing the right way to go green

Godrej Industries, in collaboration with the Bhamla Foundation and Hungama, has made a major effort to raise awareness of plastic pollution by creating a musical anthem. This musical anthem is part of the three-pronged campaign – #BeatPlasticPollution. The anthem, ‘Tik Tik PLASTIC 2.0’, has been composed by renowned artist Shaan, written by Swanand Kirkere and brought to life by the captivating choreography by Shiamak Davar. The anthem will be released on the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, 2023.

In conversation with Adgully, Burjis Godrej, Executive Director, Godrej Agrovet, speaks at length about the partnership with Bhamla Foundation and Hungama, the various initiatives that Godrej has undertaken to increase sustainability, and much more…

Why did Godrej Industries decide to partner with Bhamla Foundation and Hungama for this World Environment Day initiative?

We were very happy with the work that Bhamla Foundation has been doing in various aspects of the environment – they are doing the ‘Cyclothone’, which will encourage people to cycle rather than taking cars and other emitting forms of transport; they are doing work spreading awareness on replacing plastics with the other sources, cutting down the plastic use. Hence, we wanted to support them, with the World Environment Day coming up.

Regarding Hungama, we are happy with the quality of their content, they are making very good music videos that are very catchy and which will really appeal to the youth of India in spreading the message across on reducing plastic use and being environmentally aware, which is so important to capture their attention and their imagination. That is why we decided to get involved with these two organisations.

What are the activities around this partnership?

The activity around this is the creation and launch of ‘Tik Tik Plastic 2.0’ anthem. This has been composed by the renowned singer Shan, the lyrics are by Swanand Kirkire and choreography has done by Shiamak Davar. This is a musical anthem will seek to engage and inspire audiences through the power of music. We have also organised a green right cyclothon on 4th June, ahead of world Environment Day, which raises awareness about the need to combat plastic pollution. Called ‘Pedal for Planet’, the event will see people pledging to support the environment. Our main event on June 5, the World Environment Day, will bring together diverse people like artists, policymakers, environmentalists on this common platform to discuss plastic pollution and other environmental issues. They can have conversations and form partnerships to drive policy changes at various levels. We also want to promote our brands Godrej Magic and Godrej L’affaire, and highlight what we are doing for this cause and also encouraging more corporations to do that. This will reach a wide range of different audiences, the public, industry professionals, and they will have that sense of ownership so that in turn they will also encourage others to adopt these sustainable practices to reduce plastic waste.

Could you tell us about the inspiration behind the ‘Tik Tik’ video and how it aims to raise awareness about environmental issues?

Environmental issues cannot be handled in isolation, you have to get people together for that via an initiative that appeals to a wide range of different stakeholders, an initiative that is fun. ‘Tik Tik’ shows the power of music as a very captivating and unifying medium to engage a broad audience and bring people together. There are so many talented artists involved, such as Shaan, Neeti Mohan, Swanand Kirkire and Shiamak Davar. Given the quality of content, it will definitely appeal to the people and motivate them to take action.

In what ways do you believe this collaboration can bring about positive changes in environmental sustainability?

By getting a wide range of different stakeholders together, it intends to deliver the most impactful message. If you have these different groups together and you can work towards bigger initiatives in the future. We can form partnerships with the government, bring change from the industry side and from the consumer side.

This is an important year as India is hosting the G-20 presidency. The United Nations Environment Program is also looking into the cause of plastic pollution and looking at finding ways to solve it, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is looking closely into this issue. We can come together and create a more sustainable future for generations to come.

How is Godrej actively addressing the issue of plastic pollution and what initiatives has the company implemented to reduce plastic waste?

We are taking several initiatives; and one such initiative that we are very proud of is that we have achieved zero waste to landfill from our manufacturing units for the past 4 years. We collect back all the plastic waste we generate and we collaborate with civic agencies, social enterprises to increase reuse and recyclability. We have an R&D team that is focusing on reducing packaging intensity and increasing recyclability. One example of that is the Magic range of products like Magic hand wash, which uses less plastic because we don’t add water to that hand wash, you are responsible for adding water so it’s a smaller pack size, less plastic use and doesn’t result in the high cost of water addition and transportation.

We are also very committed to decarbonizing and we plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2035. The company sets internal targets to reduce plastic and ensures that all group companies are 100% EPR compliant. For example, the company that I am very closely involved with – Godrej Agrovet – uses 70% renewable energy and is looking to increase that even further in the future. Also, there are many employee volunteering programs on different aspects of sustainability, including environment, and we have comprehensive efforts that allow us to demonstrate our commitment to combating all kinds of pollution, including plastic pollution and promoting sustainability. For example, on the Godrej Magic hand wash issue, till date, we have saved 2,532 tonnes of plastic. We utilise only half the amount of packaging compared to regular hand wash brands.