Hyderabad: In an effort to instill and encourage waste management and recycling practices, ITC Limited organised the Wellbeing Out of Waste (WOW) Interschool Recycling Championship Awards Presentation Event today at Ravindra Bharathi Auditorium, Hyderabad. The event was held to recognize and celebrate the exceptional contributions made by students and schools in advancing the cause of Swachh Bharat through effective waste management during the Championship. The award ceremony was graced by Smt. A. Vani Prasad IAS, Principal Secretary of Environment and Forest, Science and Technology and Mr. Ronald Ross IAS, Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Dr. W G Prasanna Kumar, Sr. Social Scientist, Telangana State Pollution Control Bard, among other dignitaries. They presented awards and medals to the deserving students and schools. The ITC WOW Interschool Recycling Championship (ISRC), held across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and New Delhi, witnessed enthusiastic participation from over 10 lakh students representing 10,000 schools. This extensive engagement resulted in the collection of over 6000 metric tons of dry waste, including paper waste. The scale and impact of this initiative makes it as one of India’s largest awareness programs on solid waste management. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vadiraj Kulkarni, Chief Executive, Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, ITC Ltd., said, “I would like to convey our heartfelt congratulations to the competition winners and express our gratitude to all participants for their encouraging contribution towards Swachh Bharat and a garbage-free India. Recognizing that children are the future citizens of our nation, their awareness and motivation are crucial for achieving cleanliness goals both at the national and local levels, such as Swachh Bharat and Swachh Hyderabad. Throughout this academic year, we have successfully organized the ITC WOW Interschool Recycling Championship program in 418 schools in Hyderabad, fostering awareness on solid waste management among 1.5 lakh students.” The ITC WOW program, launched in 2007, is a pioneering recycling initiative. Its core objective is to instill source segregation habits among citizens, recover and recycle resources, conserve natural resources, create sustainable livelihoods for waste handlers and contribute to Swachh Bharat. The competition specifically aims to heighten school children’s awareness of waste segregation, transforming them into change agents to spread awareness among their parents, family members and neighbouring areas. The ITC WOW project has made a significant impact, reaching over 55 lakh households across Bengaluru, Mysuru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Chennai, Coimbatore ,Delhi, major towns of Telangana and several districts of Andhra Pradesh. The project’s notable accomplishments include annually collecting over 64,000 metric tons of dry waste, providing sustainable livelihoods to over 17,750 waste handlers, educating over 57 lakh school children and inspiring over 2.2 crore citizens to adopt sustainable practices in waste management. The program has played a pivotal role in promoting sustainable livelihoods for waste collectors through a collaborative and efficient collection system with Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Corporations). This intervention has not only empowered numerous social entrepreneurs but has also focused on maximizing value capture from the collected dry waste. Beyond these economic aspects, ITC WOW places a strong emphasis on encouraging behaviour change, recognizing its critical role in fostering a community movement towards reducing pollution pathways. The initiative is aligned with the broader goal of working towards a circular economy.
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