Sustainability - we often hear about this, but what does it really mean? It means changing the way we think about how we use our resources and make small changes that have a big impact on nature and community. To this cause and with a mission ‘to assist the adoption of Green Manufacturing Practices across Indian Manufacturing Companies’, Frost & Sullivan held its 2015 Edition of 'India Sustainability Summit’ on 22nd May, 2015 at Hyatt Regency, Mumbai.
The summit started with a full day of presentations from eminent speakers across different businesses who spoke about their companies’ initiatives and vision on sustainability. This was followed by an exciting evening of awards where Birla Cellulose was awarded the ‘Challengers Award - Large Business’ in the 2015 Green Manufacturing Excellence Awards (GMEA) category.
Based on the assessments conducted at Birla Cellulose’s Kharach site and subsequently whetted by the Executive Committee of Frost & Sullivan’s Green Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2015, Birla Cellulose was awarded Challengers Award - Large Business. Mr. HK Agarwal (COO for Pulp & Fibre business and Mr. Vinay Bhalerao (Unit Head of Kharach unit) were there on the stage to be felicitated with this prestigious award for Birla Cellulose.
Mr. Gowtham S of Frost & Sullivan welcomed the guests and explained the Assessment Model and Methodology of GMEA 2015. He explained that the assessment model is realigned within four major areas and 13 parameters with each having a weightage of 100 points, totalling to 1300 points. The model also took into consideration global sustainability reporting frameworks such as the UN Global Compact. The assessment for Birla Cellulose that concluded had its basis in their GMEA Assessment Model that in turn derived its inputs from the team’s interaction with unit’s personnel, observations in the plant and documents seen/provided to them. The Kharach unit had a score of 823 for the entire facility. The parameters on which the assessment was done covered business strategy, governance & ethics, waste & emission, biodiversity, energy & water, materials, human capital, sustainability, supply chain, society and customers.
This year’s GMEA 2015 summit had an enhanced coverage of all elements of sustainability and it focused on bringing and promoting awareness among the manufacturing units across industry verticals, through best practices shared by thought leaders who are establishing the ‘Green’ mindset in their business as a means to sustainable growth. Distinguished leaders spoke on diverse topics on sustainability. The keynote speakers from Birla Cellulose were Mr. Ajay Sardana (Vice President & Head – Sustainability) and Mr. Rohan Batra (Special Projects) who spoke about Birla Cellulose’s initiatives regarding its commitment towards a sustainable company.
Mr. Batra presented on ‘Product Life Cycle Management’. He spoke about the company’s efforts regarding sustainability. He said, “By 2017, pulp and fibre business of Aditya Birla Group endeavours to become the industry leader for sustainable business practices across its global operations balancing economic growth with environmental and societal interests.” He further said that sustainable efforts at Birla Cellulose are tested through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which assesses the environmental aspect impact associated with product, process or service. At Birla Cellulose, it is conducted from cradle to factory. He proudly said “Birla Spunshades is the most sustainable product in the market that uses a unique dyeing technique. In this dyeing technique, for 100 kg fabric, water savings are upto 70 lts/kg, effluent load is reduced by 70 per cent, power is saved upto 3.5-4.0 KW and time is saved by 6-8 hrs per batch, ultimately reducing processing costs with better production quality and profits.”
Mr. Ajay Sardana presented on ‘Employee Sustainability Initiatives’. He said, “Employees are a key driver in driving Aditya Birla’s sustainability initiatives. Our company is an exciting world of global opportunities for professional growth with human care. The way we do business is just as important as the business itself.” He concluded by saying, “For a sustainability programme to be credible and successful, the alignment, engagement and enthusiasm of employees – both managers and the workforce – is essential”.
