Dabur Becomes India's First Plastic Waste-Neutral FMCG Company

After collecting, processing, and recycling about 27,000 metric tonnes of post-consumer plastic trash during FY21-22, Dabur India, India's largest Ayurveda company, announced that it has achieved 100% plastic waste neutrality in the country.

Dabur has thus become the first Indian consumer products manufacturer to reach the milestone of replacing plastic packaging with recycled materials.

"It is a source of tremendous pride for the entire Dabur family, who have worked tirelessly to not only collect plastic garbage from our cities, towns, and villages but also to keep it out of landfills and the oceans. This encompasses everything from PET and HDPE bottles to PP caps and labels, multi-layered plastics, and beverage cartons,” said Shahrukh A. Khan, Executive Director-Operations, Dabur India Ltd.

Plastic Waste Neutral FMCG

Dabur set a goal of collecting, processing, and recycling over 22,000MT of post-consumer plastic trash by the end of the year, and it was met three months early.

"Across the country, we collaborate with government-registered recycling partners and have taken significant steps to minimize plastic trash in cities, towns, and villages, as well as boosting community awareness about plastic waste management." Khan continued, "The gathered plastic waste is transferred to various recyclers, waste-to-energy plants, and cement kilns."

Dabur's Plastic Waste Management initiative, which was launched in 2017-18 as part of the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rule, has so far collected over 54,000 MT of plastic waste (both recyclable and non-recyclable) directly from end-users in 150 cities across India with the help of local rag pickers.

Dabur has also put in place a sophisticated auditing system to assure complete transparency and adherence to state and federal plastic waste management legislation and norms.

Dabur has also announced the beginning of a new 'Save the Environment' campaign in Himachal Pradesh to raise community awareness about how to manage home plastic waste. According to Dabur India corporate head-environment, Health & Safety Tusar Pattnaik, the business will provide cotton carry bags to replace plastic bags already in use in households.