ENVIRONMENT, OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY

Water Conservation: Of the 24.98 million kilolitres of fresh water drawn by the Company in 2004-05, 91.38% was used by its Paperboards and Specialty Papers Units. Dedicated water conservation efforts have resulted in significant improvements in these Units. Implementation of Elemental Chlorine Free bleaching process in the Bhadrachalam Paperboards Unit has brought down the AOX levels in effluents to less than 0.01 Kg/tonne of paper against the Indian industry average of 2 Kg/tonne.

  
Water & Energy Conservation: Breakthrough at Specialty Papers Mill

ITC’s Specialty Papers Unit at Tribeni, West Bengal requires large quantities of energy and water for producing fine specialty papers. During 2004-05, the Unit achieved a 6.5% reduction in fresh water usage compared to 2003-04 (a cumulative reduction of 54% in the last 7 years).

This was made possible by the commissioning of a detailed system of metering & monitoring; optimising consumption at all user points; replacing use of fresh water with recycled water, wherever possible; commissioning of 3 water recycling plants and installation of Flow/Orifice Meters at critical locations to restrict consumption.

A number of initiatives have enabled the Tribeni Unit to reduce specific energy consumption by 6.8% and specific CO₂ emissions by 14.97%, as compared to 2003-04.

These initiatives are: Revamping of the compressed air system; retrofitting and replacement of pumping systems; tuning of refiners in stock preparation; optimisation of frequency in turbo generators; retrofitting of boiler ID fans and cooling tower fans; use of energy efficient light fittings and replacement of exhaust fans with natural ventilation systems.