PepsiCo Partners with United Way India for Delhi’s Biggest Plog Run on Gandhi Jayanti
The Plog run was aimed at combing the best of fitness and environmental conservation to help keep neighbourhoods plastic-free. The event saw hundreds of volunteers jogging and simultaneously picking up used plastic waste.
On the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi, PepsiCo partnered with United Way India, to organise Plog Run 2019 in Delhi-NCR. Aligned with the Government of India’s ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ and ‘Stay Fit India’ campaign the run took place simultaneously at 14 locations across Delhi-NCR and was flagged off at India Gate, by Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble MoS (IC) for Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation, Government of India. The Plog run was aimed at combing the best of fitness and environmental conservation to help keep neighbourhoods plastic-free. The event saw hundreds of volunteers jogging and simultaneously picking up used plastic waste.
Key dignitaries present at the event included Mr. Ahmed ElSheikh, President, PepsiCo India, Mr. Jose Ferrao, International President, United Way Worldwide, Manish Michael, CEO, United Way, Mr. C K Japuria, President India Beverage Association, Mr. Sachin Sharma, Director, GEM Enviro, Vivek Gupta, Executive Director, Varun Beverages, along with 300 green volunteers and PepsiCo India employees.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahmed ElSheikh, President, PepsiCo India, said that to address the challenge of plastic waste, all need to work in partnership with different stakeholders who share the common goal of creating an ecosystem where plastics doesn’t become waste. They are happy to partner with United Way in “India Plog Run 2019”, as the initiative is both only unique and also perfectly aligned with the Government of India’s ‘Swachhta Hi Seva’ and ‘Fit India Movement’ campaign,” he said.
Adding further, Ahmed said that they are encouraged by the positive response received from the volunteers across Delhi-NCR. They believe such initiatives will go a long way towards creating mass awareness on plastic waste management and making Delhi cleaner, he said.
Excited with the overwhelming response from India Plog Run, Mr. Ramakrishna Ganesh, convener and mentor, India Plog Run, said that it’s been a great plogging journey for them that started with a small group of people at foothills of Nandi Hills, scaled up to national level today with 50 cities participation. The plastic issue is inevitable and needs to be addressed carefully by all communities. They plan to conduct plogging activity through the communities created across India on a regular basis to spread the awareness and sensitize citizens on plastic usage and right disposal, he said.
Speaking about Plog Run 2019, Sachin Sharma, Director, GEM Enviro, said that plastic waste management is a step towards the right direction to tackle the plastic pollution issue. By turning bottles, packaging and other plastic wastes into new utilitarian products helps the environment and creates new economic opportunities. They are happy to share this vision with PepsiCo India, United Way India and are happy to partner with them for the Delhi chapter of Plog Run. This collaborative initiative will ensure collection and effective recycling of the PET waste and contribute in making this city cleaner and greener, he said.
As part of the initiative, PepsiCo India enabled the collection of plastic waste through its Waste management partner GEM Enviro. All PET plastic waste collected from the drive will be segregated and recycled ensuring zero percent plastic wastelands into landfills.
The plog run was launched across 14 hotspots in Delhi-NCR including Connaught Place, DLF Phase 2 Gurugram, Saket, Karol Bagh, Greater Kailash 1, Greater Noida among others. Besides Delhi, the run was held at 50 cities across India.