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Environmental Performance
Significant Air Emissions
The Bhadrachalam Unit is also progressing towards achieving international standards on specific SO2 emission levels, as given below:
In addition to the above parameters, our Paperboards Unit at Bhadrachalam also monitors Hydrogen Sulphide. The average measured value for the year 2012-13 was 2.34 mg/Nm3, which was much lower than the regulatory norm of 10mg/Nm3.
All other Units are also making concerted efforts to reduce specific emission levels. Significant reduction in specific emission levels in some of the Units in ITC along with the improvement over the previous year as depicted below has been achieved primarily through use of better quality fuels as well as increased utilisation of wind energy.
Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS)
ITC had developed and implemented an ODS phase out plan in accordance with the Government of India’s ODS Rules, 2000, formulated to comply with the Montreal Protocol, 1987, which regulates/bans the use of ozone depleting substances internationally.
The salient features of ITC’s Plan on ODS phase-out are:
All newly purchased equipment to be free of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), Halons and Methyl Chloroform (MCF).
All Units to monitor and reduce consumption of ODS.
Replace all the existing equipment using ODS well before the phase out stipulation.
Recover all the ODS from the equipment being replaced for recycling or safe disposal.
In 2012-13, the total consumption of ODS by all our Units was 200.5 kg of CFC-11 equivalent.
| BUSINESS UNIT | LOCATION | % IMPROVEMENT IN SPECIFIC EMISSION OF | ||
| PM | NOx | SO2 | ||
| Leaf Threshing | Anarpati | 13.5 | 28.8 | 30.9 |
| Cigarettes | Bengaluru | 10.9 | 51.6 | 46.6 |
| Personal Care-Soap Unit | Haridwar | 39.7 | 40.7 | 42.7 |
| Paperboards and Specialty Papers | Tribeni | 42.5 | 16.4 | 17.3 |
Responsible Management of Chemicals, Oils and Fuels
All our Units manage chemicals, oils and fuels as per defined ITC norms, which take into account all statutory requirements and international best practices. These norms are taken into consideration right from the design stage and include measures for leakage/ spillage prevention, containment provisions, impervious flooring, leak detection system as well as all requirements as per Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for hazardous chemicals. Safe work practices on handling and storage, procedures for leak detection and spill control and preventive maintenance have been instituted to avoid any incidence of uncontrolled spills or leakage. The effectiveness of these measures is checked on a regular basis.
We also continuously evaluate the feasibility of substituting hazardous chemicals with less or non-hazardous materials.
In 2012-13, there was no significant spill of any chemical, oil, fuel or hazardous waste in any of our Units.
Biodiversity
Our Units/operations do not have any significant impact on biodiversity.
All new/expansion projects have been undertaken after due Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and stakeholder consultations, as applicable. Environmental Management Plans, where required as per the EIA studies, are implemented along with projects.
Beyond Compliance
State-of-the-art processes and technologies implemented in all our Units ensure benchmarked performance across ITC.
Environment, Occupational Health & Safety management systems in our Units conform to the best international standards, such as ISO 14001/OHSAS 18001/HACCP etc and are certified by accredited third party agencies.
Apart from third party audits, Corporate EHS experts audit every unit at periodic intervals not exceeding 18 months to ensure compliance to statutory norms and Corporate EHS requirements.
There were no fines or monetary sanctions for non-compliance with environmental laws/regulations in any ITC Unit during 2012-13.