The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JUNE 06, 2023
On the occasion of World Environment Day on Monday, Vedanta Aluminium, the largest aluminium producer in India, announced receiving the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) International verification for its range of products, among the largest in the global aluminium industry. Undergoing a rigorous Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Vedanta’s primary aluminium products performed well on the parameters of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and waste generation. This stands testimony to the company’s advanced manufacturing practices and green innovations towards ensuring sustainability across the aluminium value chain.
An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardized and internationally recognized document that provides transparent and scientifically verified information about the environmental performance of a product. It is based on a thorough Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and provides data on a product’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle, including raw material extraction, manufacturing, use, and end-of-life disposal.
The primary aluminium products produced by Vedanta Aluminium and verified by EPD include billets, Primary Foundry Alloy (PFA), wire rods and all categories of ingots. Together, these products find high-end applications in critical sectors like aerospace, infrastructure, automotive, electrical, and packaging, as well as sunrise sectors such as hi-tech manufacturing, renewable energy, battery technologies, electric vehicles, and more. Interestingly, this year’s global theme for World Environment Day is ‘BeatPlasticPollution’. Aluminium, with its inherent properties of good strength, light weight, corrosion-resistance and infinite recyclability, presents itself as a viable alternative to plastic.
Commenting on the certification, Vedanta Ltd – Aluminium Business CEO Rahul Sharma, said “In a world rapidly transitioning to more sustainable approaches, the aluminium industry is poised for remarkable growth and innovation. As the backbone of a low-carbon future, aluminium’s exceptional properties hold immense potential for the energy transition, with Vedanta Aluminium as a key facilitator. The Environmental Product Declaration is a testament to our dedication to engineering sustainable products for our customers around the world. We always strive to develop innovative and environmentally conscious business practices, demonstrating our commitment to creating a sustainable future.”
The company is India’s first to launch its low-carbon, ‘green’ aluminium range, branded ‘Restora’, catering to the emerging demand for metals with a low carbon footprint. Vedanta Aluminium is also the first in the Indian aluminium industry to secure BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certifications for its large range of aluminium products. This consistent focus on quality has allowed the company to cater to the needs of customers across 50 countries, who are actively looking to reduce their carbon footprint and are also interested in the provenance of the raw materials they use.
Testimony to such endeavours, Vedanta Aluminium ranked second in the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) world rankings for the aluminium industry in FY22, making it the second most sustainable aluminium producer in the world today. Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals and committed to turning carbon neutral by 2050, Vedanta Aluminium is dedicated to making a positive environmental impact by revolutionizing its manufacturing processes.
Vedanta Aluminium has achieved several milestones in its continuous journey to augment environmental management practices across its operations.
Vedanta Aluminium reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 24 per cent in FY 2022, from the 2012 baseline while increasing production by eight times over the same period. It recycled 13.69 billion litres of water and conserved more than 1.51 billion litres of water in FY23, in the journey towards water-positive operations.
The Company supplied more than 100 per cent of fly ash, a high-volume industrial by-product generated during thermal power production, to allied industries in cement, infrastructure development etc, promoting the establishment of a circular economy within the Indian industrial landscape
It successfully conserved over 1.36 million GJ (gigajoules) of energy in FY23; and commissioned India’s largest fleet of lithium-ion battery-powered EV forklifts.
It established a Material Recovery Facility, a specialised plant to segregate and process waste into useful materials, at its mega aluminium smelter in Jharsuguda.
This apart, the Company partnered with leading environment conservation firm ERM, to bolster its biodiversity management plan around its operational areas. It deployed robust Environment Management Systems (EMS) adhering to ISO 14001:2015 across all of Vedanta Aluminium’s business units
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
