New Delhi: Walmart-owned Flipkart said Thursday it will now collect plastic packaging back from consumers in seven cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Dehradun, as part of its sustainability efforts.
The pilot project aims at ensuring existing plastic packaging in the system is recycled and reused, Flipkart said in a statement.
Under the programme, Flipkart will send out an intimation to consumers asking them to voluntarily hand over plastic packaging to Flipkart delivery staff for its proper disposal, at the time of product delivery, it added.
The collected packets will then be sent to registered vendors to ensure they are disposed of responsibly to avoid ending up in landfills.
The company said its delivery staff has been provided proper training in explaining the various facets of this initiative to consumers to ensure high participation. Among other cities included in the pilot project are Kolkata, Pune and Ahmedabad.
Flipkart, under its sustainability agenda, has reduced the use 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.
“The recently initiated pilot programme ensures that our biggest stakeholder – consumers, is one of the key enablers of this initiative and will help drive awareness. 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,” the company’s group chief corporate affairs officer Rajneesh Kumar said in a statement.
PTI