Chandigarh
6 September 2020
DIVYA AZAD
Tetra Pak, a world leading food processing and packaging solutions company has tied up with Green Recycling Links, an end-to-end waste management company, to accelerate collections of used beverage cartons (UBCs) in Himachal Pradesh. This partnership will cover Shimla, Solan and Baddi where the consumption of beverage cartons is the highest in the state. In addition, Tetra Pak already has a collection center at Rampur, set up with support from the local Indian Army contingent to collect the beverage cartons consumed by them. With the addition of the 3 cities to its collection network, Tetra Pak now has presence in 30 cities and 14 Army cantonments, covering 21 States and Union Territories. Tetra Pak today works with 29 collection partners across India, including Green Recycling Links, to support collections of UBCs.
Green Recycling Links will work with 2 local partners- Khurana Polymers in Baddi and Balaji Traders in Solan- who have a strong collection footprint in the state. The collected UBCs will be sent to Tetra Pak’s recycling partner – Khatema Fibres Ltd. in Uttarakhand – for recycling.
Speaking about the initiative, Jaideep Gokhale, Sustainability Director, Tetra Pak South Asia said, “At Tetra Pak, we have spent the past 16 years building a strong recycling ecosystem in India and today, over 40% cartons sold in India are recycled. However, 2020 has been a tough year with major disruption in collections due to the nationwide lock-down. With the lock-down in the state easing, we are very hopeful that collections will pick up again and help make Himachal Pradesh litter-free. We are grateful for the support and encouragement from the local government; efficient waste management cannot be possible without their support.”
To increase collections, Tetra Pak is going the extra mile to motivate waste-pickers and collection partners who are integral to the process. This includes additional incentives to waste-pickers for collecting UBCs, which is over and above the economic value received from sale of the UBCs to the recycler. Tetra Pak has also rolled out an incentive scheme for collection partners giving them an opportunity to increase their earnings if they overachieve their targets.
Shujauddin, Director – Green Recycling Links said, “We have been working with Tetra Pak since 2016 for collection of Used Beverage Cartons (UBCs) across states in North India. In 2020, we expanded our partnership to 3 more states including Himachal Pradesh and have identified two great local partners to help us drive collections in the state. This partnership will not only help collect and recycle UBCs, but also bring great socio-economic benefits for the local waste-picker community. This is a year full of challenges and unpredictability, but we are committed to do our best to support Tetra Pak.”
