12. Sustainability and Environment
Our constant endeavor is to create an adaptable and sustainable business model, which will help us maintain our position as one of the sector’s front-runners, in a highly competitive market. Process efficiency and continual improvement have been the driving forces behind ensuring sustainable business performance.
Our approach towards managing the sustainable development related risks and opportunities altered in the concluded year and the positive changes earned us the 4th position globally (5th in 2018) in Dow Jones Sustainability Index’s (DJSI) Construction Materials category. Ambuja Cements Limited is the only Indian cement company to attain this feat of recognition and position in the top 5 most sustainable companies in the DJSI, for two consecutive years.
Our Sustainable development plan – ‘The Plan 2020 / 2030, Building for Tomorrow’ – has identified and defined four focus areas for our business and vests a catalytic approach towards planning and management. The four thrust areas are Climate and Energy, Circular Economy, Environment and Community. Our operational-site level objectives help the respective heads align with and accomplish overall company level objectives. With the strides made in 2019, we are on track to achieve the intermediate sustainable development targets in the four defined areas, set for the year 2020.
With respect to the Indian cement industry, Ambuja has spearheaded adoption of the principles of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Corporate Citizenship. The Company has mapped its activities against the SDGs and their indicators, which form part of our Sustainability Report. Building upon the Company’s product stewardship, we launched sustainable products and solutions in the market in 2019, to extend sustainable development support to our partners and customers.
The Company has maintained its water positive leadership position in 2019. In order to promote a circular economy in its operations, the Company compensated its plastic consumption in the supply chain and recovered 94,570 tonnes of plastic waste from the market. This quantity is ~40% higher than the quantum recovered in 2018. With the help of sustained efforts on this front, we continue to make steadfast progress towards our plastic negative leadership.
3.1 lakh tonnes of Alternate Fuels (AF) were used in 2019, resulting in a Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) of 5.36%. 8.7 million tonnes of waste-derived raw materials were used in the Company’s circular economy portfolio. This contributed towards lowering the clinker factor to 64.91%. As part of its sustainable products initiative, the Company doubled the production of composite cement year-on-year.
The Company has developed an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) after a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of its low-carbon products, Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and composite cement, which constitute 90% of the product portfolio. EPDs are available in the public domain for B2B communication and to facilitate customers to make informed decisions.
In 2019, Ambuja published its 12th Sustainability Development Report on the triple bottom line performance for the year 2018. Ambuja displayed its stewardship in aligning with the latest guidelines by preparing the report in accordance with the latest Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. An independent Assurance provider was appointed, as per the AA1000 assurance standard.
The report was aligned to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and indicators of Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), an erstwhile initiative of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The Company has consistently issued the Business Responsibility Report (BRR) as part of its Annual Report, since 2012. The Company has partially adopted the Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework prescribed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), by reporting its operational and financial performance against the six capitals of IR Framework. The Company will consider releasing a complete Integrated Report in future.