Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce marketplace, announced that as of August 1, 2019, it has achieved a 25% reduction in single-use plastic through various initiatives across its packaging value chain. Flipkart also made a commitment to eliminate single-use plastic in packaging and move towards a 100% recycled plastic consumption in its own supply chain by March 2021.
As part of its long-term sustainability, Flipkart is working on various initiatives including the introduction of eco-friendly paper shreds, replacing poly pouches with recycled paper bags, replacing bubble wraps and airbags with carton waste shredded material and 2-ply roll, to name a few. Under this commitment, Flipkart has also filed for EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) and is targeting 30% collection back in the first year to begin with. It also committed to maximize recycled content in single-use plastic to boost the recycling ecosystem and reduce virgin plastic consumption. These initiatives acknowledge India’s vision to phase out single-use plastic, as well as the company’s impact on the environment.
As part of this initiative, 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.
“At Flipkart, we believe that sustainable business practices not only help us preserve our environment, but make us more efficient and ensure longevity. Creating alternatives for single-use plastic packaging is one of the significant steps we have taken towards fulfilling our commitment to create a sustainable ecosystem. Our long-term vision is to eliminate the use of plastic and maximise the use of recycled and renewable materials” said Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Group CEO, Flipkart.
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.
Source: Flipkart website
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