New Delhi, May 18 (PTI) Walmart-owned Flipkart on Monday said it has been able to reduce plastic packaging in its supply chain by 50 per cent.

Flipkart has now started phasing out plastic packaging from its own supply chain in Maharashtra through usage of paper-based packaging starting May 1, it said in a statement.

"As part of its efforts to move towards zero waste, the company has been able to reduce plastic packaging in its supply chain, and has cut down the usage of plastic packaging in its own supply chain by about 50 per cent," it added.

The company has been driving several initiatives towards sustainable growth, including introduction of eco-friendly paper shreds, replacing poly pouches with recycled paper bags, replacing bubble wraps and airbags with carton waste shredded material and two-ply roll.

Flipkart said it is actively working with all policy makers, including state governments across the country and other ecosystem stakeholders to understand how it can provide a conducive and feasible transition path to lakhs of its seller partners to gradually adopt sustainable packaging alternatives that are affordable, scalable and widely available to them.

The company works with over two lakh local sellers, mostly micro, small and medium enterprises across the country, many of whom also ship customer orders directly and make their own packaging decisions.

"Flipkart is strongly committed to environmental sustainability and is working actively with various partners on long-term sustainability initiatives, helping drive ecosystem awareness. We are pleased with the progress made in our own supply chain to introduce and explore different packaging concepts to have an impact now and in the future," Flipkart Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar said.

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