AMBUJA'S JOURNEY ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL) in line with its corporate philosophy of 'Sustainable Development', has always been in the forefront of environmental improvement initiatives.

ACL started its journey with the commissioning of its first Cement Production Complex at Ambujanagar with a capacity of 0.7 MTPA. Thereafter, the second and third production lines at Ambujanagar were commissioned on reclaimed mined land, mined during the initial 22 months of ACL’s production. In recognition of the activities carried out by ACL in the areas of environment and social responsibility, Ambujanagar was cited as an example for the Indian Cement Industry and The Ministry of Environment & Forests acknowledged this achievement and bestowed the first National Award for Prevention of Pollution in 1991. This National award was once again accorded to us in 2002-2003 for our Unit at Ropar.

At all locations you will find 100% restoration of mined area, 100% recycling of sewage, zero discharge of waste water and emissions well below statutory standards. All our units are certified to the global standard- Environment Management System (ISO 14001:2004). A few of our units are certified to Integrated Management System including Quality Management System (ISO 9000), Environment Management System (ISO 14001) and Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS 18001). We regularly check the environmental performance of our units through the management system and Plant Environment Performance (PEP) framework.

ACL enjoys recognition for high productivity, low power consumption, low fuel consumption, best pollution control and environmental preservation efforts, as well as Energy Conservation and has received many awards.

  • Latest Technology adoption

    Latest Technology adoption

    We were perhaps the first cement company in India to install the glass bag house in the raw mill/ kiln which is the most efficient pollution control equipment. We are now using the latest energy efficient and environment friendly Vertical Roller Mill Technology in the cement plants. Surface Miners are used for mining in Ambujanagar which is rare in the cement industry.

    We are currently burning agricultural waste in captive power plants, industrial hazardous & non hazardous wastes in kilns to help with disposal problems and save land filling of wastes. We are now also planning for production of slag based cement and other blended cements in forthcoming units.

    We strengthened our efforts after becoming the first cement company in India to adopt Bulk Cement Transportation through the sea route. This year operations started at our fourth BCT at Kochi, Kerala.

    In tandem with adopting path-breaking initiatives, ACL has taken another major initiative in the year 2009 of co-processing of various industrial hazardous wastes in the cement kilns. The wastes currently being used are TDI tar (waste from petroleum industry), shredded tyres, glycerine foot (waste from soap industry), groundnut husk, cotton stalk (agro waste), FO Sludge etc.

    We are also installing solar water heaters across all our locations starting with Ambujanagar, Bhatapara and Bhatinda in 2009.

    The Environment Management division has been set up at all our locations including 5 Integrated Plants, 8 Grinding plants and 4 Bulk Cement Terminals, with full fledged environmental laboratories for monitoring of stack emissions, ambient air quality, noise levels and effluents.

  • Continuous (On-line) Monitoring Systems

    Continuous (On-line) Monitoring Systems

    We follow a strict emission monitoring regime as per Holcim’s Emission Monitoring and Reporting (EMR) protocol. To continue with our resolve to do better in environment monitoring and management, we are providing Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS) at kiln stacks in all our integrated plants to monitor all vital pollution parameters online. Not only that, orders have also been made for 10 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems for our various units.

  • Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP – CII & WWF

    Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP – CII & WWF

    ACL is one of the few companies in India reporting GHG emissions and taking voluntary reduction initiatives by participating in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) being executed by WWF and CII in India. CDP today holds the largest database of primary corporate climate change information in the world.

  • Green Rating Project – CSE

    Green Rating Project – CSE

    ACL is also one of the top 200 companies in the country who have participated in the Green Rating Project (GRP) of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) supported by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to rate the energy and water efficiency of major industrial sectors including Cement.

    The Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi conducted this cross-sectoral rating programme of the top corporations in the country, starting in 2008. This concluded with the release of the findings of the study in the book "Challenge of the new balance" in June, 2010.

    In the cement sector 6 major companies were covered and ACL was one of them. The aim of the ‘Bottom-up’ study was to understand the potential to reduce GHG emissions in five most emissions-intensive industrial sectors including Steel, Aluminium, Cement, Fertilizer, Pulp and Paper and the Power sector. It covered benchmarking energy and GHG emissions with Best Available Techniques (BAT) and researching technology options; a round table with industries to understand their future technology deployment pathway, limitations as well as advantages/disadvantages. Interestingly, the average CO2 emissions were found to be 0.68 MT CO2/MT cement whereas ACL specific emissions are 0.57 MT CO2/MT cement, well below the average.

  • CDP – REEP Survey

    CDP – REEP Survey

    The CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development and WWF-India in support of the collaboration between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) conducted a study to "Identify best practice in policy and regulation in China, Brazil, India and South Africa."

    The purpose of this study included the identification of best corporate practices in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, including tracking energy usage and strategies for reduction. To this end, top ten companies have been selected based on their disclosures to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2009 response. Ambuja Cements has been identified as one of the best-performing companies in the CDP 2009 response as well as its level of engagement in energy efficiency and we also responded to the REEEP survey.

    The outcome of the study was released in the form of a report "Corporate Clean Energy Investment Trends in Brazil, China, India and South Africa" in June, 2010.

Ambuja Cements Ltd has made sustainability a way of life. This means adopting environmentally safe technologies and optimum utilisation and conversation of natural resources. Sustainable development focuses on economic, environmental and social performance.

  • Corporate Sustainable Development Report 2010Download
  • Corporate Sustainable Development Report 2009Download
  • Corporate Sustainable Development Report 2008Download
  • Corporate Sustainable Development Report 2007Download

Occupational Health & Safety is one of our core values of business. We recognise that the health and safety of our employees, subcontractors, third parties and visitors is vital to our business success. OH&S is integrated with our business processes spanning people, processes, systems, technologies and facilities. OH&S is driven through top management commitment and Visible Leadership across all levels.

Providing a safe workplace

To achieve our vision of "zero harm" to people, we have provided appropriate technology with stringent operational control practices across all operations. All operations are required systematically to implement a series of fatality prevention directives. The directives were developed by Holcim after an in-depth analysis of the major causes of fatalities and encompass hazard identification, risk assessment and controls, training, and maintenance and emergency procedures.

The ACL OH&S management system further guides this approach. Our health and safety policy has been rolled out across all operations and has been included as a key responsibility in line management and business performance. This policy goes beyond the workplace, to address OH&S issues related to Vehicle and Traffic Safety and home safety issues of our employees and their families. We have made significant progress in workplace and personnel safety by focusing on "Safety Observation Process". This intervention focuses on the behavioural Safety aspect of all personnel. Clear organisational accountabilities are supported by a robust program of training, communication and Risk Management processes. A systematic reporting system enables the top management to evaluate the overall direction and efficacy of the health and safety system and develop strategies for improving it. To that end, we compare our own health and safety results regularly with the goals we have set for ourselves and with available benchmarks for the cement sector.

Regular audits ensure that external and internal regulations/standards are implemented and complied with.

  • Occupational Health & Safety PolicyDownload
  • Occupational Health & Safety Cardinal RulesDownload
  • Substance Abuse PolicyDownload

'Prakriti'

Started in 2010, this quarterly publication covers environment conservation efforts taken up during the quarter across ACL Production Plants. It is a platform to showcase and encourage the initiatives taken, while also communicating the latest happenings at the Policy level. In a way, the newsletter is a vehicle for cross-exchange of information.

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