Brands
ITC to use 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging
MUMBAI: Multi-business conglomerate, ITC Limited has pledged that over the next decade, going beyond its Extended Producer Responsibility, it will deploy superior solutions so that 100 percent of its product packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable.
ITC also reiterated that it is committed to scale up its solid waste management programmes and sustain its leadership position as a Solid Waste Recycling Positive Company.
ITC’s initiatives in the solid waste management of which plastic waste management is a significant component, aim at providing a 360-degree solutions framework to address the critical issue of waste management through packaging optimisation, resource conservation, recycling of waste generated in its operations, source segregation, collection, reuse and recycling. Already over 99 percent of waste generated in ITC’s operations is recycled. ITC’s holistic solid waste management initiatives has now extended to 10 states across the country, covering cities, towns, villages and temples.
In a true spirit of public-private-people partnership, ITC’s waste management models including the flagship initiative Wellbeing Out of Waste, encompass community awareness, segregation, promotion of recycling and reuse through capacity building and development of social entrepreneurship. 100 per cent dry waste including plastic waste is sent for recycling.
ITC Ltd managing director Sanjiv Puri says, “The problem of solid waste management is one of the epic proportions and requires each organ of the society and more so, enterprises that are large economic organs of the society, to make a meaningful contribution. Wellbeing out of Waste (WOW) focuses on providing an end-to-end sustainable and a scalable solution spanning the entire value chain right from awareness, segregation, collection and promotion, reuse or recycle of solid waste. The benefits of these are already available to 77 lakh citizens of the country and over time, we are going to scale this up and enhance our contribution to the Prime Minister’s Vision of Swachh Bharat.”
“As a Company which is carbon positive, water positive and solid waste recycling positive for over a decade, ITC is committed to shaping a secure, sustainable and inclusive future through superior Triple Bottom Line performance,” he added.
Other than the Wellbeing Out of Waste (WOW) programmes that is operational in cities and large towns, ITC has initiated a number of community-managed projects in villages and towns to address the issue of waste management. Under ITC’s Green Temple initiative, three of Tamil Nadu’s eminent temples are turning their premises into zero garbage zones by recycling the organic waste from daily offerings – benefitting both the temples and their neighbourhoods with cleaner and healthier surroundings.
ITC is also collaborating with the municipal corporations of Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Saharanpur, Muzaffarpur, among others to ensure cleaner and greener cities.
WOW works by building partnerships, giving each stakeholder including rag-pickers and waste workers a role and responsibility and leveraging their capabilities as productively as possible. It optimises resources – using existing infrastructure where available and creating new where required.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
