Select CITYWALK becomes first mall to pledge support towards reducing plastic straws

India's most admired shopping centre Select CITYWALK, today demonstrated exemplary leadership by announcing their campaign to try and eliminate the use of plastic straws in partnership with 35 food outlets within their premises. These include leading food chains such as Punjab Grill, Cafe Delhi Heights, Burma Burma, L'opera among others.

Select CITYWALK has been in the forefront of caring for the environment and established a mechanism towards insuring zero discharge of waste and water.

Speaking on the occasion Yogeshwar Sharma, ED and CEO, Select CITYWALK said, "It is our fundamental philosophy to care for our planet. Several initiatives have already been taken by us to safeguard our environment and many more are in the pipeline. The campaign is another significant step towards this commitment and our aim to drastically reduce plastic usage at the shopping centre. We believe that this landmark step will pave the way to substantial and significant results and we will be contributing towards leaving a cleaner and healthier planet for generations to come. I would also like to thank our partner brands, the credit goes to them completely in helping us take this initiative forward."

According to CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) data, India generates 15,342 tonnes of plastic waste per day (about 5.6 million tonnes annually), out of which Delhi alone contributes to 690 tonnes daily - making it the largest contributor. Such plastic waste takes too long to decompose, if at all. A single plastic straw takes 200 years to decompose.

Discarded after usage of just few seconds, plastic straws clog our landfills, drains and rivers before making their way into oceans. About eight million tonnes of plastic straws are estimated to enter the marine environment every year and consumed by sea birds, fishes and mammals. They choke the marine life and do not biodegrade for hundreds of years.

"This will be our CSR Initiative for the year, motivated by this year's theme for World Environment Day 'Beat Plastic Pollution'", Sharma added.