Godrej Group has hosted its Third Annual Good & Green Conclave on Waste Management.
As a step towards addressing some of the big issues impacting the planet, this year’s conclave brought eminent leaders and experts together to deliberate and share their views on sustainable waste management practices, a press update informs.
Inaugurated by Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej & Boyce Mfg Co Ltd and Nadir Godrej, Managing Director, Godrej Industries and packed with a series of panel discussions by industry experts on the 
changing needs of waste management, the conclave underscored the link between localised waste management and wealth creation.
As Jamshyd Godrej mentioned, “At Godrej, we have always been concerned towards maintaining the right balance between environment and industry. Our Good & Green vision helps us to focus on greener India, hence a part of our sustainability plan involves achieving zero waste. It has always been our endeavour to manage the waste produced by our business and recycle them. Our teams are working together to constantly come up with innovative processes for higher levels of sustainable productivity.”
Nadir Godrej brought in the landfill problem to the fore here. “As a group, our vision is to achieve zero waste to landfill by 2020. Towards our vision of building a greener India, we are now exploring ways to further this commitment through ‘shared value’ initiatives that create both social and business benefits. We are glad that the conclave brought together renowned leaders and experts to share their experiences and discuss sustainable pathways for the future.”
The conclave with a turnout of 250 people, was attended by other luminaries like Vivek Agarwal, Chairman, ICWM, Anirban Ghosh, Vice President – Strategic Planning and New Business Development, Mahindra & Mahindra, Mukul Rastogi, Vice President, ITC and Chetan Zaveri, Vice President, IL & FS and and Deeksha Vats, Sr.Vice President – Sustainability, Aditya Birla and Bharati Chaturvedi, Founder Chintan, Jyoti Mhapsekar, President, Sree Mukti Sanghatana from Social sector.
Urban India is unfortunately the world’s third-largest garbage generator with more than 45 million tonnes, or three million trucks worth, of garbage remaining untreated and disposed improperly.
Jamshyd Godrej emphasized that it is important that Indian industry should focus on adopting a Green purchase policy and cleaner production technologies. It is a matter of extreme concern that only 68 per cent of the garbage generated in the country is collected, of which only 28 per cent is treated by the municipal authorities. If this issue is not tackled efficiently, total waste generation is projected to be 165 million tonnes by 2031 and 436 million tonnes by 2050.
What’s worth being reminded here is that even as the world continues to generate some 4.7 million tonnes of garbage every day, India alone piles up .14 million tones of that daily (as per Central Pollution Control Board of India and CSE). The global figure is easily slated to touch 6 million tones daily by 2025. If only a part of municipal solid waste generated is actually collected and a mere 29 per cent of the MSW is treated; then it’s high time, we wake up and smell the stink.
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Team Sustainability0
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