Flipkart eliminates single-use plastic packaging in supply chain

BENGALURU: E-commerce firm Flipkart on Wednesday said it has eliminated all single-use plastic packaging used across its fulfillment centres in the country, in line with the commitment it had made in 2019 to move to plastic-free packaging in its own supply chain by 2021.

This has been achieved across more than 70 facilities of Flipkart, where it has eliminated single-use plastic packaging by introducing sustainable alternatives such as eco-friendly paper shreds, replacing poly pouches with recycled paper bags and bubble wraps with carton waste shredded material and 2 ply rolls, to name a few.

Flipkart said it has ensured that it is fully compliant with all extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations and through its network of recyclers, the equivalent quantity of single-use plastic going to consumers is fully recycled.

It is now also working with its seller partners who fulfil customer orders directly from their locations to educate and enable them to move towards alternative packaging materials. It has achieved a 27% reduction in the use of single-use plastic packaging in its seller fulfillments.

The Walmart-owned firm is looking at how it can implement other initiatives so that the use of plastic can be entirely eliminated.

“At Flipkart, we place great emphasis on sustainable and responsible business practices. Moving towards 100% single-use plastic elimination is one of the significant steps we have taken towards fulfilling our commitment to creating a sustainable ecosystem. We achieved this while navigating a tough year impacted by covid and are proud that our teams kept the priorities in line. We are now focused on enabling our seller ecosystem to adopt sustainable packaging alternatives as well, and to create positive environmental and social impact across the entire supply chain,” said Hemant Badri, senior vice-president and head of supply chain at Flipkart.

Some of the other key initiatives by Flipkart include ‘E-commerce ready packaging’, where it has been able to ship close to 15% of products without adding a secondary layer of packaging. The company aims to reduce the need for an outer layer by working with brands across apparel, electronics and home furnishings to ship their products in the original manufacturer or brand packaging.

Flipkart also is working towards making sure that the packaging used does not cause any deforestation by scaling packaging from recycled and alternative materials.