Oceans are the biggest and deepest trash bins on Earth. In India, a major chunk of plastic deposits in the ocean comes from abandoned fishing nets. Once disposed of in the water, these become ghost nets, almost invisible in the dark underwater. Sea creatures get trapped in these nets and die. Ghost nets also pose critical dangers to divers.
Now, several enterprises and NGOs are trying to make a conscious intervention in this area.
For instance, HCL Harit, the green initiative of HCL Foundation, the CSR arm of tech firm HCL Tech, recently collaborated with the Navy and The Habitats Trust towards strengthening efforts for combating plastic waste in oceans. Nidhi Pundhir, vice-president, Global CSR, HCL Tech, said, “We have already retrieved some 20,300 kg of ghost nets through various projects. We are going to commence similar projects across coasts in Karnataka and Odisha.’‘
Beginning at home
While intervention through CSR is one part, many companies are running very specific initiatives to minimise or stop the use of plastic in their offices.
“We have successfully done away with single-use plastics 100% and engaged with authorised third-party vendors for the recycling of waste from packaging, etc,’‘ said Paneesh Rao, Global Head of Sustainability, LTIMindtree, a city-based IT firm.
In 2023 so far, the company has recycled 77% of plastic waste, and has a mandate to move the needle on this effort to 85% in 2024 and 95% in 2025, he added.
Cisco’s campus in Bengaluru, the largest outside its global headquarters in San Jose, is a zero-waste discharge site now, after the digital communication and technology major eliminated the use of plastic/paper cups as part of its green initiatives.
In an effort to reduce plastic waste going to landfills, Truly Desi, an A2 dairy start-up, in association with social enterprise, ProEarth, has been collecting milk pouches for recycling and so far the firm has recycled 30% plastic milk pouches and has plans to recycle 80-90% of its milk packaging in the near future.
The country generated an estimated 3.46 million tonnes of plastic waste every day out of the use of milk and milk products of all brands, said Hamsa Iyer, General Manager, ProEarth.
