C. NATURE POSITIVE
Nature Positive, at Asian Paints, refers to a holistic approach to sustainability that considers the environmental impact of the Company’s operations and strives to create a positive outcome for both the company and the planet. The theme includes our efforts around waste reduction, other air emission and biodiversity.
Waste management
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Minimising waste in our processes not only reduces costs but also reduces our use
of materials, energy, water, and land. We follow the classical ‘3R’ strategy: Reduce,
Reuse, and Recycle for waste management. Systems and procedures have been
developed through which we repurpose used material and reintroduce excess
material into the production process.
At our paint manufacturing unit, specific hazardous waste disposal (Kg/KL) has seen
a consistent year-on-year reduction since the baseline year of 2013-14. Specific
Hazardous Waste Disposal saw a 21% decrease from last year and 71% decrease
from FY 2013-14.
During the year, at our paint manufacturing units, the 929 MT of hazardous waste
and 9,449 MT of non-hazardous waste were disposed of from our units. We directed
9% of hazardous waste for recycling, 41% for co-processing, 5% to a secured landfill,
and the remaining 46% for incineration. All our non-hazardous waste was directed
for recycling.
Wastewater management
Industrial effluent is generated during paint
processing and during equipment and pipeline
cleaning. Source reduction is our major area of
focus, and we have over the years achieved a
significant reduction in the same by employing
high pressure cleaning systems and enhanced
utilisation of resultant wash water back in our
process. Effluent that cannot be reused is recycled
in our ETP and advanced treatment systems.
This recycled water is then utilised to fulfil both
process and non-process requirements.
Air emissions:
We have been monitoring and measuring other significant emissions through our
stacks. We not only ensure to comply with the regulatory requirements but also
strive to maintain these emissions at near-zero levels.
Across our plants, we have switched to cleaner fuels, replaced the diesel-based DG
sets with gas-based, undertaken DG retrofitting, and reduced boiler use by utilising
community steam boilers and setting heat recovery units.
At our decorative paint units, the absolute PM, NOx, and SOx emissions were
4.81 MT, 9.91 MT, and 2.72 MT respectively. While at the standalone level, the absolute
PM, NOx and SOx emission was 10.48 MT, 40.28 MT and 10.68 MT respectively
