Bharti Airtel, in collaboration with IDEMIA Secure Transactions, a division of the IDEMIA Group, has announced that has shifted from virgin plastic to recycled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) SIM cards.
This is in line with the company’s commitment to encouraging the adoption of circular business practices.
An industry first in India, Airtel is the only telecommunications service provider to switch to recycled plastic SIM cards. With this migration, the generation of over 165 tonnes of virgin plastic will be limited which will further reduce the generation of over 690 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in one year.
This migration is in line with Airtel’s continued commitment to reducing greenhouse gases and promoting circularity with supplier partners and other stakeholders with the aim of encouraging them to reduce waste, recycle and reuse products.
Commenting on the collaboration, Rahul Tandon, senior vice president, connectivity services, IDEMIA Secure Transactions, India, said, “We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Airtel. We congratulate Airtel for taking the lead in reducing the carbon footprint and providing green solutions to their subscribers in India. I would also like to thank all our research and development (R&D) teams for making such innovations possible.”
Meanwhile, Pankaj Miglani, director, supply chain, 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.”
Airtel has committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its operations by 50.2 per cent by FY 2030-31 with FY 2020-21 as the base year. The company has also committed to reducing its absolute scope 3 GHG emissions by 42 per cent over the same time frame. In line with this commitment, some of the key initiatives at Airtel include promoting energy efficiency, utilising open-access green energy and adopting renewable energy across operations, as well as building a climate resilient network, resource efficiency and waste management.
