In its commitment to help tackle climate change, reduce carbon footprint and protect the local environment, Chennai-based Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) has announced a series of goals that it calls its ‘Seven Statements for Sustainability’.
The initial set of goals, the company said, are a part of its long-term sustainability plan that will be unveiled in multiple phases. One of the key targets is to make the DICV Chennai plant operations 100% CO2 neutral by 2025.
DICV’s commitment is in line with India’s recent pledge at the Glasgow COP26 summit to increase its installed renewable energy capacity to 500 GW and reduce carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, as well as achieve ‘net-zero emissions’ by 2070.
“Driving sustainability in our production and operations has been a key focus for DICV since our inception. Our efforts so far have already helped us reach 72% CO2 neutrality in our plant, and we plan to push this to 100% by 2025. We will work continuously towards a sustainable future for our stakeholders and society as a whole,” Satyakam Arya, CEO & MD, DICV said.
The company has been implementing sustainability initiatives at the plant since its inception. A few core initiatives include the installation of an energy-generation plant with over 10,000 polycrystalline solar power panels (compensates for around 3,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions/year) and a storage pond that holds more than 60,000 kilolitres.
Seven Statements For Sustainability
Statement 1: Make DICV operations 100% CO2 neutral by 2025 by…
- More than doubling the amount of captive solar power generated along with buying wind based power and bagasse-based green cogeneration;
- Changing all internal shuttles to electric vehicles.
Statement 2: Aiming to make entire value chain CO2 neutral by 2047 by...
- Conducting awareness campaigns for dealers/ suppliers and supporting them in this transition;
- Sharing best practices and benchmarking KPIs for partners.
Statement 3: Increase green cover density of Chennai plant by at least 10% by 2025 by...
- Planting mini forests of native trees and increasing bio-diversity;
- Planting an additional 2000 trees using organic farming methods.
Statement 4: Reduce energy consumption of production shop by at least 8% by 2025 by...
- Upgrading all lighting to LEDs;
- Installing more efficient motors and using IoT devices to optimise usage of equipment like chillers and compressors.
Statement 5: Reduce water consumption by 30%, aiming for 100% water self-reliance at the plant by 2025 by...
- Conserving use of water by smart flow metering arrangements;
- Reusing effluent water generated from operations in paint shop manufacturing process.
Statement 6: Continuously reduce waste generated from operations by…
- Increasing usage of bio-degradable plastic in packaging process up to 50% by 2025;
- Using only biodegradable packaging material for all internal distributions (employee handouts, etc.).
Statement 7: Contribute to betterment of nearby villages and societies
- Improving drinking water facilities and installing solar lighting in community around Oragadam;
- Educating children on environmental sustainability and facilitating health camps in nearby villages.