India's largest aluminium producer, Vedanta Aluminium has partnered with TÜV SÜD, a global leader in safety, security, and sustainability solutions, to become net water positive. As a part of this partnership, Vedanta Aluminium and TÜV will create a roadmap for the company's water positivity goal by enhancing the accounting process for water consumption, building capacity for continuous improvement and conservation, and implementing innovative solutions and initiatives. A key pillar in Vedanta Aluminium's approach to Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) excellence for climate action is water management, which aims to achieve net water-positive operations by 2030.
A water-positive pledge helps companies align with the UN goal of ensuring that people have access to safe water while ensuring their water supply is secured.
In support of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 of clean water & sanitation, Vedanta Aluminium manages its water resources with care. A vigorous water management policy guides the company’s attempts toward restraining its water footprint while supporting the local communities in their water-related requirements and helping maintain the ecological balance. However, each of the Group’s business units has undertaken water-screening assessments, using the World Resource Institute (WRI) Aqueduct Tool to identify sensitive aquatic habitats, water availability and dependence on shared water sources. Now on this foundation, Vedanta anticipates and evaluates the degree of potential environmental and social risks related to water and implements customised water management plans for each location.
Vedanta Aluminium follows a 4-pillared approach to sustainable water management, which emphasizes Zero Liquid Discharge, which ensures all liquid is contained, processed and reused within operations:
Monitoring water usage: Vedanta Aluminium consistently observes water intake and usage across operations, thereby identifying high-consumption areas and subsequently putting in measures to optimize water consumption in those areas.
Assuring maximum water reutilization: Through state-of-the-art closed-loop recycling systems and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP), augmented with Ultra-Filtration and Reverse Osmosis, the company is maximizing water reutilization and lowering freshwater intake.
Developing a positive footprint: On-site reservoirs and rainwater harvesting infrastructures have been developed to expand the quantum of water captured and ultimately replenish more water than is consumed by the company. 9 rainwater harvesting infrastructures were constructed in the previous fiscal alone, having a combined water-saving potential of 194 million litres.
Empowering communities’ access to water and climate-smart farming: The company is building and rejuvenating hundreds of community water infrastructures like ponds and percolation tanks to help communities get perennial access to water. The company is also helping local farming communities adopt drip irrigation, solar-powered water pumps, rainwater harvesting, etc. to boost irrigation potential and reduce dependence on monsoons for cropping. Moreover, it is training them on growing climate-resilient crops for improving yield in the face of irregular climatic conditions.
As an outcome of this attempt, in FY22, the aluminium arm of Vedanta recycled 15 billion litres of water for in-house consumption.
Rahul Sharma, the CEO of Vedanta Aluminium, while commenting on the company’s partnership with TÜV SÜD, said, “Our partnership with TÜV SÜD will give us access to their global advisory expertise for sustainable water management. There is immense pressure on global water resources, exacerbated by the climate crisis. In this decisive decade, we intend to make significant strides towards our commitment to Net Water Positive operations. Our underlying objective is to ensure water security of our operations and our local communities' access to good quality water while helping maintain the ecological balance in the process.”
Bratin Roy, the Senior Vice-President of Industrial Services at TÜV SÜD South Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa Region (ASMEA) said, “TÜV SÜD, is proud to bring its global expertise in sustainability solutions to accelerate Vedanta Aluminium’s journey to water positive operations. The company’s unequivocal commitment to excellence in ESG is matched by our passion to enable organizations to achieve their sustainability targets. With this partnership, we look forward to creating a sustainable water footprint that will benefit India’s largest aluminium producer, the local communities and the environment.”
Responses
