MUMBAI: Bata, India’s leading footwear brand, has pledged to increase its green footprint this World Environment Day with its Go-Green initiative. Towards its green goal, Bata is implementing a ‘Reuse, Reduce, Recycle’ policy across its manufacturing, retail and product operations.
Reuse
To encourage customers to reuse and reduce carry bags, Bata was previously offering paper carry bags at a nominal charge of Rs. 3 - less than half of their actual cost. The company has now started giving away Rs. 20 Bata Club reward points to customers who choose to refuse or reuse paper bags, thereby doing their role to save trees. Bata has also rolled out new paper carry-bags featuring disruptive messages encouraging consumers to reuse paper bags.
In a revolutionary project, Bata has partnered with the Texas-based Austin Rubber Company, to source APXTM, the world’s first virgin-rubber substitute made from recycled rubber tires, for the outsoles of its iconic Power Jogger range. Preventing discarded tyres from being burned or disposed of in landfills, the Bata-Austin Rubber partnership is successfully turning waste materials into new products with greater value.
Reduce
Bata has deployed a Zero Discharge System (ZDS) at three of its four factories, and will soon be completely ZDS-compliant across all its factories. The company’s zero-discharge approach is minimising its demand for natural water, and helping the company achieve cleaner water footprint. As part of its goal of eventually going paper-free, Bata has adopted the use of E-bills. By sending consumer purchase invoice via SMS, the company is considerably reducing point-of-sale paper wastage.
Recycle
As a part of its 'Stride with Pride' initiative, Bata is accepting old shoes from its consumers and giving away an equal number of new shoes to children in need. Collected from stores and partner schools, the shoes are being disposed off in an environmentally safe manner. To encourage robust consumer response, Bata launched a 'Stride with Pride' marketing and consumer communication campaign and gave consumers discounts in the campaign's pilot months. Over 25,000 pairs of shoes have been collected till date from across Pune, Jaipur, Lucknow and Chandigarh. The initiative will soon be rolled out across the country.
Talking about the Go-Green initiative, Sandeep Kataria, Country Manager & CEO, Bata India Ltd. said, “Bata has taken its spirit of innovation and channelized it towards a greater good – environmental sustainability – with encouraging results. This World Environment Day, we are sharing our commitment to scale-up our Go-Green initiative, and encourage our customers and industry peers to unitedly participate in achieving a greener India.”
Bata India has been surprising consumers with its refreshed product offerings, and now it’s Go-Green initiative has reinforced the brand’s overarching positioning of #SurprisinglyBata.
