Mumbai: With the aim of contributing to a cleaner, greener, and healthier tomorrow Sunfeast YiPPee! together with NGO partner ‘Way for life’ is creating awareness amongst students on plastic waste management. YiPPee! Better World Science Mela, is one such initiative to generate wider awareness amongst students. Themelawas held today at Government Higher Primary School, Whitefield, Bengaluru.
The Science Mela was inaugurated in the presence of Dr. Agatha Betsy, Head – Nutrition Sciences ITC Ltd., Mr. Muthu Krishna Moorthy, GM & Head – ICML Malur ITC Ltd and H. Vijayalakshmi, Head Master, Government Higher Primary School.
The event featured a science exhibition which focused on the 3R principles—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, where students from the Government Higher Primary School presented innovative projects. A drawing competition was organised to encourage artistic expression on sustainability themes and student-run stalls were put up, promoting eco-conscious products. Further, 100 benches and desks made from recycled plastic waste were also deployed in the school, strengthening the program’s mission to promote circular economy and responsible waste management.
Through the YiPPee! Better World Program, launched in 2022, ITC has successfully engaged with over 21 lakh students across 4,000+ schools in India, educating them on responsible waste management. The initiative has gone beyond awareness, delivering tangible impact—collecting over 58,000 kg of plastic waste and deployed more than 4000 desks & benches made from recycled plastic. This also aligns with ITC’s larger commitment to plastic neutrality, in partnership with government and civic bodies.
Kavita Chaturvedi, COO, Snacks, Noodles & Pasta, ITC Foods, commented on the initiative: “In line with ITC’s commitment to sustainability, The YiPPee! Better World Program has spearheaded initiatives to instill environmental responsibility in young minds while actively working towards a cleaner future. By inculcating the habit of waste-segregation and recycling waste into useful resources for schools, we are not only promoting plastic waste management but also empowering the next generation to become champions of sustainability.”
Beyond YiPPee! Better World program, ITC has been sustaining its Plastic Neutrality status since FY 2021-22 through implementation of multiple large-scale models of solid waste management, designed on the principles of circular economy, across the country. In FY 2023-24, ITC collected and sustainably managed around 70,000 tonnes of plastic waste across India, which is more than the total plastic packaging utilised by the Company. ITC’s flagship ‘Well-Being Out of Waste’ (WOW) program has reached over 25 million citizens across 6.4 million households, 6.7 million school children and over 2,200 corporates, since its inception.