Environmental Performance

In 2014-15, ITC Units generated 7,91,227 tonnes of waste (7,11,887 tonnes in 2013-14). This 11.1% rise in total waste generated over last year was primarily due to non-availability of low ash content coal and augmentation of virgin pulp production in Bhadrachalam Unit of the Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division. This Unit, which accounted for 79.8% of the total waste generated in ITC during 2014-15, reported an increase of 16.3% in waste generation as compared to previous year.

In addition, there has been an expansion in the reporting boundary. The following business units/ activities have been included in the Sustainability Report for 2014-15:

Snacks and Noodles Unit of Foods Business at Malur (Karnataka), ITC Grand Bharat at Gurgaon and My Fortune at Bengaluru of the Hotels Business, clonal plantation development activities of Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business at Bhadrachalam, together with Classic Golf Resort in Gurgaon, ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad and Fortune Resort Bay Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, being units of subsidiary companies.

Business-wise break-up of wastes generated in ITC (2014-15):

In order to continually improve performance on resource conservation, all ITC Units have developed systems to track and monitor the specific waste generation (waste generated per unit of product/ service). Considering the significant share of Paperboards and Specialty Papers Business in the total waste generated by ITC (as demonstrated in the above table), specific focus has been laid on monitoring the performance of the Units under this Business. Specific waste generation of these Units are as follows:

Average generation of 1200kg of solid waste per tonne of product for similar integrated pulp and paper mills**

**Reference: Centre for Science and Environment Report, 'All About Paper' (2004)

Historically, due to limited options for recycling of lime sludge (a waste generated from chemical recovery process in Bhadrachalam Unit), some amount was being utilised by cement plants, with the bulk stored in lagoons within the premises, incorporating adequate precautions to prevent adverse impacts on soil and ground water. In 2014-15, the Unit tied up with more cement plants and around 14,000 tonnes of waste was recycled through this arrangement. The accumulated quantity of lime sludge in these lagoons is estimated to be around 2.5 lac tonnes and it is expected that the entire amount of accumulated lime sludge will be utilised within the next 3 years.

Of the total waste generated by ITC in 2014-15, only 3.2% by weight can be categorised as hazardous waste as per Indian statues. 94.5% of this hazardous waste was recycled by authorised external agencies, and the balance 5.5% was disposed of or stored completely in accordance with applicable statutes. All ITC Units have established systems and procedures to verify the relevant authorisations and licenses of external agencies for transporting, recycling or disposing the hazardous wastes, in compliance with applicable regulations and norms. Further, Corporate EHS periodically verifies the compliance in each of the ITC Units. During 2014-15, apart from hazardous wastes transported to external treatment sites by authorised transport agencies as applicable, no other hazardous wastes were transported between locations owned or managed by the organisation.

The table below depicts the final destinations of the total hazardous wastes generated during 2014-15:

(All values in Tonnes)
During 2014-15, out of the total non-hazardous waste generated in ITC Units, 99.97% waste was reused/ recycled. The details of the destination for the major waste categories, which contributed to more than 85% of the total non-hazardous waste generated in ITC units in 2014-15, are given below:

ITC strives to maximise resource efficiency in all its Units so as to reduce waste generation to the extent possible. Since generation of waste cannot be completely eliminated due to limitations in processes and technology, all ITC Businesses/ Units endeavour to work towards 100% recycling of generated waste. Approach of 'segregation at source' along with focused attention on identifying and tracking of all waste streams till its final disposal have helped to enhance the performance in waste recycling across all Units. During 2014-15, 99.8% of the total waste generated within the units was recycled.

Units that recycled more than 99% of generated waste

Use of post-consumer waste as raw materials by the Paperboards and Specialty Paper Units at Kovai and Bhadrachalam has enabled the Company to further expand its waste recycling footprint. Efforts at ITC Units to recycle the entire waste generated along with utilisation of externally generated waste paper as a source of fibre in the above mentioned Paperboards and Specialty Paper Units, have helped the company to maintain its solid waste recycling positive status for the 8th consecutive year (refer the table below)

"Wealth Out of Waste (WOW)", a recycling programme initiated in April 2007 by the Paperboards & Specialty Papers business of ITC, has evolved into a corporate level program with scope enhanced to "Well-being out of waste" focused on creating scalable solutions for spreading awareness about recycling, encouraging people to segregate & dispose waste responsibly and creating sustainable livelihoods for people working as rag pickers.

As part of ITC's ongoing efforts towards maximising value capture from post-consumer waste, a pilot project on recycled compact boards made out of packaging waste has led to the development of school furniture which have been deployed in schools supported by ITC. Applications for these boards within ITC facilities are also being explored. In addition, studies are being carried out to explore viability of converting waste plastic to fuel.