NATURAL CAPITAL Addressing Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable World

With sustainability at the core of our strategy, we are strengthening our long-term resilience by undertaking pioneering initiatives that contribute to a thriving world, communities and enterprise. We have aligned our sustainability goals with Responsible Care, CORE and UN SDGs guidelines to ensure maximum impact.

Sustainability priorities

  • Carbon abatement: Fuel change, renewable energy & carbon capture
  • Circular economy: Waste management, recycle and reuse
  • Biodiversity: Preserve natural capital, conservation and restoration of biodiversity

Our sustainability focus areas

Growing shared values
  • Long-term inclusive growth and relationship with shareholders
  • Enhancing portfolio of value-added, green and patented products (i.e. Sodium Bicarbonate, Highly Dispersible Silica)
  • Accelerated digital adoption and use of data analytics to enhance operational efficiency
  • Shifting from solvent-based to more sustainable water-based formulations
Promoting low-carbon economy
  • Carbon abatement study to reduce absolute carbon reduction and achieve net zero carbon
  • Energy management through energy audits, improvement in operational efficiency and shift to renewable energy (Mambattu plant added solar power capacity)
  • Initiating carbon capture and conversion to usable liquid form at TCE to produce carbon neutral Sodium Bicarbonate
Minimising environment footprint
  • SBTi commitment
  • Conducted climate change risk assessment and waste mapping study
  • Promoting smart agriculture
  • Emphasis on continuous improvement in the recycle of water and waste materials
  • Transitioning to clean fuels and technology and higher use of alternate materials (i.e. plastic waste for cement)
  • Continuous performance monitoring with air emissions monitoring systems and pilot concentrator
  • Responsible Care and CORE certified operations (India)
Creating sustainable societies
  • Extensive tree planation drive across 500 acres (target of 3 million tree plantation by 2030)
  • ‘Prakriti’ Mitra-Sakhi Mandals
  • Promoting species conservation and strengthening biodiversity: restoration and conservation of coral reefs (2,000 m2 area coverage)

Our sustainability framework

Sustainability strategy and policies to guide areas of intervention, support best practices and drive encouraging business change

Underpinned by our corporate strategy:

  • Integrate sustainability across business
  • Maintain robust systems and processes
  • Focus on operational efficiencies and carbon abatement plans

Oversight and ultimate responsibility undertaken by Safety, Health, Environment and Sustainability and Risk Management Committees. They are updated on performance across all internally defined sustainability-related material issues

E-enablement to digitally track sustainability KPIs which is reviewed on an annual basis

Key sustainability initiatives undertaken in FY 2020-21

India
  • 11,53,371 kWh of total power savings driven by implementation of IIoT, usage of LED lights and VFD conversion for HRT, HCT and slurry feed pump
  • Undertaking IIoT implementation in other key areas
  • Double effect evaporator in MUW3 plant converted to quadruple effect evaporator resulting into 14,976 MCal/hr energy saving equivalent to 47,641 TPA CO2 emission reduction
USA
  • Achieved a total power reduction of 450 kWh in C and D Boilers’ electrostatic precipitator (ESP) post implementing findings of energy study, which indicated potential to lower operating powers and comply with the boilers’ environmental limits in its current Title V permit
UK
  • Founding member of the NetZero Northwest initiative that focusses on advanced use of Hydrogen and CO2 and Hydrogen storage
  • Installed efficient new boilers at the Middlewich site producing the same steam output with 15% lower natural gas consumption
  • Reduced carbon footprint at Lostock site by replacing increased electricity generation from steam turbine with that from natural gas
  • Integrated local counties sustainability agenda for all future projects (i.e. renewable energy from hydropower from the local weir, district heating from piping at the plant etc.), potentially kickstarting the use of renewables
Managing waste sustainably

Cement kiln is an environment-friendly place to dispose of waste where temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees celsius destroys organic compounds while enabling safe recycling of inorganic compounds into clinker chemistry. Implementation of co-processing technology makes it even more efficient by facilitating use of wastes as alternate fuels, which leads to reduction in carbon emission. A Plastic feeding double valve with a consumption capacity of 3 tonnes per day (TPD) of shredded plastic manually has been installed in the Mithapur Cement plant kiln which is enabling a 0.5 MT reduction in fuel consumption for every 1 MT of plastic processed.

Sustainability at Rallis

Rallis is continuously working to improve its long-term sustainability. It is implementing programmes and processes to improve its environmental performance. In FY 2020-21, its total absolute emission was 69.26 million tonnes CO2e, fresh water withdrawal was 329.59 megalitres, treated water discharged was 72.13 megaliters and energy utilisation from renewable (solar) source was 3,464 Mwh.

For more information, you can refer to pages 34-35 of Rallis' Annual Report 2020-21.

India
  • Double effect evaporator in MUW3 plant is converted into quadruple effect evaporator resulting into 26,257 TPA Coal saving equivalent to 47,641 TPA CO2 emission reduction
USA
  • Undertook multiple initiatives at C and D Boilers:
    • Voluntarily reduced PM (particulate matter) emission limits from 0.039 lb/MMBtu to 0.030 lb/MMBtu to create a bank of PM emission offsets for pending and future permitting
    • Replaced CEMS for all regulated pollutants
    • Exploring the elimination of coal by replacing it with efficient natural gas units
  • Installed Dry Sobert Injection system with continuous SO2 reductions
  • Replaced six continuous opacity monitors (COMS) in the GR2 and GR3 calciners for all regulated pollutants
UK
  • Commissioned state-of-the-art boiler plant at the British Salt plant, having ~94% efficiency resulting in a 8,500 TPA reduction in CO2
  • Commissioned Carbon Capture and Utilisation scheme for capturing food and pharmaceutical grade CO2 for use in the Sodium Bicarbonate plant, contributing to a 40,000 TPA reduction in CO2 emissions and enabling production of carbon neutral Sodium Bicarbonate
  • Initiated building one of UK’s largest, greenest energy from waste plants on the Lostock site (schedule commissioning 2023) to neutralise flue gas emissions from Briskarb manufacturing with zero addition to Scope 3 emissions
  • Investigating in-house warehousing solutions (to be initiated in 2022) for large scale reduction of Scope 3 emission relating to offsite movements of products to external warehouses
Kenya
  • Focussed initiative to reduce dust emission at Kajidao by installing chutes and internal dust meter to track dust levels
  • Commissioned CEMS (Continuous Emission Monitoring System) project at ESP plant
  • The Automatic Weather Station (AWS) provide daily Weather data
  • Started programme to plant 22,000 trees within Magadi environs
India
  • Used plastic waste (~373 tonnes) as alternative fuel for Cement plant
  • Bulk transportation of products through railway, bulkers and containers to eliminate plastic packaging
  • Ensured 100% fly ash utilisation and 92.31% of recycle of waste
USA
  • Ongoing project to upgrade paste plant
UK
  • Re-utilisation of brownfield site: Winnington land scheme to return 5 km of prime Cheshire river frontage to public access use, other investment in public open space and flood attenuation and bio-diversity measures
Kenya
  • Disposed asbestos containing roof sheets as per regulations
  • Sold fused ash waste to a customer as input raw material resulting in waste recycle ratio improving to 99%
India
  • TCSRD implemented water conservation and water management work in 45 villages of Okhamandal and Kalyanpur taluka
  • Supported construction of community and individual water harvesting structures and promotion of Micro Irrigation Systems - Drip and Sprinkler
  • Water harvesting capacity added till date is 441 MCFT
USA
  • Installed flow meters throughout the water loop to better track water consumption patterns and lower the water withdraw from the Green River
UK
  • The British Salt Middlewich site reduced freshwater consumption by harvesting rainwater for use within the plant
  • Sites having large state-of-the-art recycle and reuse system (for raising, condensing and re-raising steam or using it in the Sodium Bicarbonate manufacturing process), minimising additional consumption
Kenya
  • Awareness creation on water conservation completed with water rationing

Addressing Climate Change challenge

Climate change is a major global concern and is also a very important material issue for Tata Chemicals. We are committed to transition to a low-carbon economy and have strengthened this journey through commitment to SBTi and setting of carbon reduction target aligned to well below 2 degrees.

We have conducted a climate change risk assessment for our Mithapur plant and its neighbourhood along with and adaptation strategy and action plan.

Our response

Climate Change Strategy for 2030

We have developed a strategy to achieve the following objectives:

  • Reducing carbon emissions by 30%
  • Becoming water neutral

Organisational level commitment

We have embedded sustainability in our organisation, strategy making and all decisions we make, including:

  • Active involvement of the Board and senior leadership
  • Review and monitoring of sustainability and climate change initiatives by Safety Health Environment & Sustainability Committee of the Board
  • Board guidance and support to the management

Sustainability performance overview

*Excludes Fused Ash of 14,119 MT which is now being sold as a byproduct.
**Not comparable to previous year as method of measurement has been refined at TCNA

For detailed information on sustainability performance, please refer to our website at https://www.tatachemicals.com/SustainabilityPerf.htm