Know How Hindalco Became World’s Most Sustainable Aluminum Company

#Sustainability #Environment #Aluminium

Dr. Susanta Podder

Driving sustainability is no more the role of environmentalists, but even global leaders have moved towards building sustainable ecosystems. Dr. Susanta Podder, General Manager - Sustainability & Environment, Aditya Birla Group, shares with Pro MFG Media, the journey of Hindalco to become the world’s most sustainable aluminum organization.

Several organizations are shifting priorities by using business intelligence to save the cost as well as the planet. In the current scenario, the world is witnessing the corporates and stakeholders investing in strategies focused on reducing carbon emission.

Hindalco Industries Limited, the metals flagship of Aditya Birla Group, is ranked as the Leader in the Aluminum Industry for its sustainability performance in the 2020 edition of the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) rankings. The ranking is an affirmation of the company's commitment to operations under a Resilient, Responsible, and Reliable business model.

The organization has implemented numerous innovative initiatives in the sustainability arena. On the global level, collaborating with cement manufacturers to use red mud as a replacement for mined resources is the first initiative that has created value out of aluminum processed by-products. It is one of the pioneering efforts in reducing the environmental impact on the aluminum and cement sectors. Hindalco is the first aluminum company in the world to achieve this breakthrough on red mud utilization. In fact, their efforts in product stewardship revolve around sustainable transportation and logistics, wherein they developed & commercialized India’s first lightweight aluminum trailer & bulker that helps save up to 15,000 liters of fuel per trailer.

In the era of climate change, organizations being aware of the limited natural resources are using them wisely. However, sustainable behavior should not just reflect in the production segment but should be visible in every segment of the process.

Out of the many new initiatives, Hindalco Industries, first time, commenced the transportation of fly ash to the cement companies through Indian Railways, thereby reducing pollution, cost, and time.

They are wisely contributing to the circular economy by partnering with Indian Railways for the safe disposal of fly ash while supporting the National Clean Air Program. They have been working towards water positivity in their mining locations by supporting the construction of rainwater harvesting ponds, reservoirs, and agri-water management through CSR activities for local communities.

Their plant - Hirakud Power, Smelter, FRP has adopted ZLD technology - Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD), which is a treatment process designed to remove all the liquid waste from a system. The focus of ZLD is to reduce wastewater economically and produce clean water suitable for reuse (e.g., irrigation), thereby saving money and being beneficial to the environment.

Polycrack, a patented technology adopted by Hindalco’s Sambalpur plant, is the world's first patented heterogeneous catalytic process that converts multiple feedstocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon, and water. It has been a serious challenge to manage the single-use plastics in the plant area or colonies. Polycrack has been able to reduce plastic waste while converting it into liquid fuels, which can be used as multi-purpose oil. The process is a closed-loop system and does not emit any kinds of hazardous pollutants. The organization has installed two Polycrack and plans to install many more in the coming year.

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