ITC bags top spot plus Green and Packaging Awards

Awards host Denzil Smith (aka Offset Patel) regaled the guests during the night, which were kicked off by Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of Autocar, who hailed all of this year’s shortlisted companies as the embodiment of this year’s theme.

R Senguttuvan, the chief executive of the Packaging and Printing Business of ITC spoke to the PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? magazines team. He said, “We are delighted to win three Awards, including the PrintWeek Company of the Year 2019. The Award recognises our contribution to the industry. It gives us added responsibility to live up to the expectations and take the business forward and maintain its leadership position in the packaging segment. As one of the oldest in the packaging industry, we have travelled far with our focus on providing contemporary packaging solutions to customers in different segments and will continue to deliver reliable, sustainable, and innovative packaging."

ITC Packaging won the Green Company of the Year Award, as well. DQS India who audited this category said, “ITC Packaging and Printing Business is India's largest converter of paperboard into high quality packaging. The company has implemented several sustainable measures in print and packaging unit at Tiruvottiyur, which includes energy conservation projects, renewable-wind energy plant, water conservation projects, to handle waste several recycling projects and is complying all social norms.

R Senguttuvan shared with the PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? magazines team, “There are many other initiatives like rainwater harvesting, water recycling, etc which have been undertaken to conserve water. We would like to highlight that our initiatives in rainwater harvesting were undertaken much before it became a statutory requirement.”

The company has a robust training process of Lean, 5S and waste management. R Senguttuvan said, “The training covers the entire workforce, including the managers in all the units. Many continual improvement projects involving workmen and technical staff have enabled improved work practices in the shopfloor and resulted in measurable benefits to the organisation."

ITC Packaging has also been certified to many quality standards and scored highly in several customer audits. Today, the company converts over 70,000-tonnes of paper, paperboard and laminates per annum into a variety of value-added packaging solutions for the food; beverage, personal products, F&B and consumer goods industries.

The packaging division was set up in 1925 as a strategic backward integration for ITC's cigarettes business. Today, it has three packaging factories at Tiruvottiyur near Chennai, Munger in Bihar and Haridwar. The company offers a comprehensive product range in packaging backed by its expertise over the decades and is a one stop shop for many superbrands.