India's e-commerce giant Flipkart has announced the rollout of a new initiative that focuses on creating awareness among consumers on the proper disposal of plastic packaging and make them active participants in its sustainability agenda. India has been sensitive to environmental issues of late, owing to the haze that has been tormenting the country's capital.
To save plastic dumping, Flipkart is conducting a pilot project to collect plastic packaging back from consumers at select hubs across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Dehradun, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, and Ahmedabad. The initiative aims at ensuring existing plastic packaging in the system is recycled and reused.
"We have taken bold steps towards reducing single-use plastic in the system by replacing it with various eco-friendly alternatives and are constantly innovating with our approaches. We are proud to be the first-ever e-commerce marketplace to channelise plastic packaging back into the system through door-to-door collection with the help of our wishmasters," said Rajneesh Kumar, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Flipkart Group.
"We believe a collective approach of all stakeholders would help us in achieving the dream of a Swachh and Samridha Bharat, and the country's vision to phase out single-use plastic," Kumar added. Under the initiative, the company will send out an intimation to consumers asking them to voluntarily hand over plastic packaging to Flipkart wishmasters for its proper disposal, at the time of product delivery.
The collected packets will then be sent to registered vendors to ensure it is disposed of responsibly to avoid ending up in landfills, the company said in a statement. Wishmasters have also been provided proper training in explaining the various facets of this initiative to consumers to ensure high participation.
This initiative is in continuation of Flipkart's sustainability agenda under which it has already reduced the utilization of single-use plastic by 33 per cent and aims to move towards 100 per cent recycled plastic consumption in its supply chain by March 2021.
