ITC Ltd

At a Glance

Industry

Consumer Packaged Goods

Project Types

Engagement and Behavior Change, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy

Year

2021

Location

Kolkata

Summary

Swapna Panda developed a tool to estimate GHG emissions for ITC’s Decentralized Solid Waste Management initiatives across Rural, Urban, and Green Temple models.

Goals

In response to the waste management challenge of India, ITC’s Social Investments Programme, Mission Sunehra Kal, designed and implemented a Decentralized Solid Waste Management (DSWM) programme with the end objective of “minimal waste to landfill.” The model covers large cities, towns, villages, and temples. ITC engaged Swapna Panda to develop a tool to measure savings in GHG emissions across their DSWM models to be used to advocate for low cost models of waste management.

Solutions

  1. Understanding ITC’s DSWM models (Rural, Urban, and Green Temple) and assessing advantages over centralized MSW management.
  2. Research and review of literature on GHG emissions calculation from MSW. After researching several reports, papers, and documents, Swapna identified the IPCC calculation methods best suited for calculating GHG emissions and developed a tool specific for the Indian context using IPCC 2019 default values.
  3. Parameter setting and testing of the developed tool using one location each from Rural, Urban, and Green Temple. Based on the suggestions and requirement of ITC, Swapna modified the tool to be used by them for calculations in the future. She also conducted two training sessions with nearly 30 ITC employees to demonstrate how the model works and how it can be used.
  4. Scenario analysis and thrust area identification: Using past data of ITC DSWM, Swapna conducted scenario analysis to estimate GHG avoidance in the past as well as suggested improvements in the current DSWM models to further improve GHG savings.

Potential Impact

By adopting the IPCC calculation methods, the tool will help ITC to determine GHG emissions avoidance due to their DSWM initiatives. This estimation can help ITC to demonstrate that its initiatives embody social, economic, and environmental sustainability as well as the principles of circular economy.

ITC can utilize the estimations from the tool to offset GHG emissions from their operations, thereby continuing with their reputation of being carbon positive and solid waste recycling positive for over a decade. The tool can also be used by ITC to convince local government bodies to adopt environmentally friendly, decentralized SWM models.

Related Links