Bharti Airtel announced today its transition from virgin plastic to recycled PVC SIM cards in partnership with IDEMIA Secure Transactions. Airtel claims to be the first telecommunications service provider in India to make this industry shift move. According to Airtel, this move aligns with the company's commitment to reducing greenhouse gases and promoting circularity with supplier partners and stakeholders, encouraging waste reduction, recycling, and product reuse.
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Reduction in Virgin Plastic Usage
With this migration, Airtel expects to limit the generation of over 165 tonnes of virgin plastic, further reducing the generation of over 690 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in one year.
Bharti Airtel said, "We are delighted to announce yet another first as we continue to lead the Indian telecom industry. As a brand we endeavour to align our efforts to adopt various sustainable measures and contribute significantly towards India’s ambition to achieve net zero. Our collaboration with Idemia underscores our shared commitment to contributing to a sustainable future."
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Commitment to Sustainability
Airtel has committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its operations by 50.2 percent by FY 2030-31, using FY 2020-21 as the base year. The company also aims to reduce its absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 42 percent over the same time frame.
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In line with its sustainability commitments, Airtel highlighted other key initiatives, including promoting energy efficiency, utilizing open-access green energy, adopting renewable energy across operations, building a climate-resilient network, and enhancing resource efficiency and waste management.
Carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2 equivalent, is a metric used to compare emissions from various GHGs based on their global-warming potential, converted to the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide.
