Trends : Taking Green Measures

The massive problem of environmental degradation taking place worldwide has
added urgency to the need for all stakeholders to pursue their stated goals
whether in the government, business or civil society, while at the same time
protecting the earths natural resources.

In fact, cleaner indeed is cheaper because those organizations which protect
the environment while at the same time producing more, succeed in maximizing
their profits. There are several examples of this fact. Those organizations
which brought out a radical improvement in energy efficiency found that in the
process they were also able to improve their overall productivity and earn much
higher profits.

Adding to the strong rationale for producing and consuming in a manner that
can be labeled as clean is the knowledge that we now have on the subject of
climate change. The world today is in the thick of negotiations.

India has been uniquely successful in attaining high rates of economic growth
in the recent decades; but further success will depend greatly on the ability of
corporate organizations to anticipate the future, and ensure natural resource
usage and environmental protection are at unprecedented levels. Businesses need
to develop approaches for analyzing and adapting to the physical risks of
climate change as well as take advantage of the opportunities present before
them.

In fact, recognizing the increasing complexities facing the environment and
its impacts on the sustainability of business, many corporate organizations have
taken bold and visible steps to integrate sustainability components in their
overall corporate strategy. Several initiatives spanning across various
environmental dimensions from resource conservation, water and wastewater
management, waste utilization, process improvements and product innovation for
pollution control and so on are a testimony to the same. Zero discharge
complexes, energy efficiency and emission reduction (including greenhouse gases)
are slowly becoming the norm of the Indian industry.

Establishment of effective environment management systems is forming an
integral part of commercial normality and competitiveness in the future. An
environmental review provides a snapshot of the environmental performance of the
organization and enables development of realistic policies and recommendations.
The other helpful factors are training, allocation of responsibility, setting
and attainment of targets, operational control and audit, environmental
reporting and environmental statements, standardization, etc. Effective
environmental management and sustainable resource utilization are
multi-disciplinary tasks.

The focus on cleaner processes and systems rather than end-of pipe solutions
has come to be accepted as a more effective strategy, but still needs to be
adopted and put into practice on a far wider scale. The fact that initiatives
such as reduction in water consumption through recycling, energy conservation by
utilizing waste heat, process improvements to recover waste gases and
elimination of hazardous chemicals from the manufacturing process have yielded
financial gains, only confirms the adage that it pays to be environment
friendly.

Key interventions could be classified into the following four broad
categories:

Water and Wastewater Management: Water sector in India faces major
challenges with the declining per capita water availability, rising water
demand, pollution as well as potential threat of the impact of climate change.
It is believed that the direct and indirect cost of water would increase
significantly in the future, and at the same time quantitative and qualitative
scarcity of water would be far more challenging for industrialization.

As the challenges magnify, water conservation needs to take a center stage in
planning the business in coherent harmony with the environment. The contemporary
approach of typical end-of-pipe treatment of industrial wastewater needs to
shift towards decentralized, process integrated water management with efforts
towards zero discharge or positive water balance, thus reducing the fresh
water demand. There is a need for water management practices which integrate the
use of water efficient technologies and treatment systems; and which undertake
mandatory water conservation efforts such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater
recharge, wastewater reuse and recycle, water auditing, etc. The basic necessity
is to save and preserve precious water for sustainable use amongst different
competing users.

Gradually but continuously, Indian industries are moving towards excellence
in their water management practices. There is a growing realization amongst
Indian corporates about efficient water management that moves beyond regulatory
compliances and improves their water productivity.

Waste Management and Resource Conservation: The country as per the
estimates of the Ministry of Environment and Forests generates around 8.4 mn
tonnes of hazardous waste and around 150 mn tonnes of non-hazardous waste from
industrial activities. Bulk of the non-hazardous waste comprises of fly ash
generated from the thermal power plants in the country. Only 30-35% of the
non-hazardous waste streams get recycled or reused, the balance requires huge
land area for disposal. Therefore, there is a strong need for the country to
achieve higher growth rate with the optimal use of resources, and adopt better
management practices to reduce the generation of waste.

Hazardous wastes from industrial sectors contain heavy metals, cyanides,
pesticides, complex aromatic compounds and other chemicals that are toxic to
humans, plants or animals; are flammable, corrosive, or explosive; or have high
chemical reactivity. The chemical constituents of the waste if they are volatile
have the potential to be released as air pollutants; if they are water soluble
have potential to contaminate soil and water resources (surface and
groundwater). These chemicals are toxic to flora and fauna including humans as
when inhaled are ingested. The most effective way thus to deal with adverse
environmental impacts of the hazardous constituents waste are strategies and
management plans directed towards their reduction in waste streams let out from
the industries. Effective ways to manage the hazardous constituents of the waste
to reduce its impact on the environment are: source reduction; recycle/reuse;
thermal destruction with energy recovery; and landfilling of waste with the
utilization of landfill gas.

Process Improvement and Product Innovation: The industrial sector uses
about 50% of the total commercial energy available in India. Coal, lignite, and
oil and natural gas are the main sources of energy being used. Of the commercial
sources of energy, coal and lignite account for about 56%, oil and natural gas
around 40%, hydro-electric power about 3%, and nuclear power accounting for 1%.
Majority of the industrial sector is highly energy intensive, and efficiency is
well below in comparison to other industrialized countries. The Energy
Conservation Act 2001 has identified designated consumers such as cement,
aluminum, paper and pulp, iron and steel, textiles, chloro alkali, thermal power
station, railways and fertilizers which have large potential for energy saving.
It has been estimated that the energy saving potential of these industries are
around 25%. About 5%-10% savings can be realized by adopting good operating
practices. Low or medium investments on various energy conservation measures
such as retrofitting, use of energy efficient devices and controls, etc, would
help in 10%15% savings. Thus, major breakthrough in savings is possible with
process modifications, process improvement as well as product innovation.
Optimizing energy utilization and reducing the environmental impact is the order
of the day.

Environment Management System: It is perceived that corporate response
to the environment is either based on environmental risks and market based
opportunities or environmental pressures like legislation, constraints within
the firm, etc. A competitive advantage can be achieved not merely by keeping
abreast with the environmental developments, but also by initiating change
within an organization and responding with new environment friendly products and
production processes. The ultimate aim of corporate environmental management
must be to reach a situation where companies are operating in a way that is
consistent with the concept of sustainable development. For businesses, the
first step must be the development of environmental management systems which
promote quality and have a commitment by the management as well as employees
towards environmental issues, and ensure that environmental performance is
improved over time. Environmental management systems for companies not only help
them meet the legislative requirements, but also help in implementing, managing
and fostering voluntary initiatives at the corporate level. The management
systems cover not only the management responsibilities, but also the
responsibility and tasks of every individual in an organization.

Pratik Ghosh

The author is associate fellow, TERI BCSD (Business Council on Sustainable
Development), India

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