HCCB equips ‘Safai Sathis’ with food, hygiene, and safety related resources during the pandemic

·         2,50,000 safety kits, 70,00,000 kilos of ration, 1,50,000 soaps distributed to over 1,00,000 ‘Safai Sathis’ across multiple locations

·         The initiative comes as a part of HCCB’s Plastic Waste Management Program which is in collaboration with UNDP 

Bengaluru, June 5, 2021 – This World Environment Day, HCCB and UNDP are celebrating the “will do” spirit of the ‘Safai Sathis’ – sanitation workers who have been working continuously to keep the country clean by collecting and helping recycle plastic waste – even during the pandemic. Safai Sathis, are the workforce behind Project Prithvi – the plastic waste management program - that HCCB and UNDP have been jointly running over the last 3 years with partner agencies and local government bodies. Project Prithvi aims to collect and recycle more than 70,000 tonnes of plastic waste this year.

HCCB (Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages) - one of India’s top FMCG companies, and UNDP have worked together during the pandemic period to reach out to 1,00,000 people including 17,000 ‘Safai Sathi’s’ with essential items such as safety kits, ration supplies, hygiene kits etc. A total of 2,50,000 safety kits and 70,00,000 kilos of ration - including rice, wheat flour, lentil, spices, tea, salt, milk powder, cooking oil and grains – and 1,50,000 soap packets have been distributed since the impact of Covid19. The two organizations have also collaborated with Municipal Commissioners and City Implementing Partners to conduct awareness sessions on hygiene and safety - handling masks, gloves, and about social distancing - across 30 cities. The safai sathis were also provided with travel passes to transport goods and to collect waste in designated areas. These efforts have been greatly appreciated by the Municipal Commissioners of various cities such as Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Hyderabad.

Launched in 2018 and currently operational in more than 30 locations, HCCB’s Plastic Waste Management program works towards fostering collaboration between citizens, communities, urban local bodies government departments and stakeholders for sustainable solutions in plastic waste management. The project has brought in savings of more than 1, 07,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions and more than 86,000 litres of oil has been avoided in the production of virgin plastic. The project engages with informal sector Safai Sathis to integrate them into formal economy through self-help groups and facilitate their linkages to various inclusion initiatives like banking, identity cards, social security like insurance schemes, etc.

About HCCB

HCCB is one of India’s largest FMCG companies. It manufactures, packages and sells, some of India’s most loved beverages – Minute Maid, Maaza, SmartWater, Kinley, Thums Up, Sprite, Coca-Cola, Limca, Fanta, Georgia and several others. A network of around 3,600 distributors, 250,000 farmers, 4,300 suppliers and over 3 million retail outlets, makes HCCB an ecosystem of significant scale. It operates in 22 states and 3 union territories in 393 districts. Through its 15 factories, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages manufactures and sells more than 60 different products in 9 different categories.