ACC Ltd, among India’s foremost cement manufacturers, has been conferred the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for Eco-Innovation this year over its efforts to provide co-processing of waste management in cement plants.

The annual Golden Peacock Awards are given by an NGO, the World Environment Foundation. This year’s award winners were selected by a jury headed by former Chief Justice of India and UN Human Rights Commission member P N Bhagwati.

Co-processing in cement kilns was initiated three years ago by the company’s newly formed alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) department. Since its inception, more than 800,000t of waste materials including industrial wastes, waste fuels, alternative raw materials and biomass have been safely co-processed, the manufacturer claimed.

The cement producer ruled out any destruction in the quality of the cement as each and every new solution of the company needed to go through government regulations. Though last year trial runs in waste management were conducted in a few companies in India, as yet, none have come forward to talk about what each one is doing in waste management.

Hence, it is assumed that although co-processing in cement plants has gained popularity overseas, this concept is still not popular in India. As for its environmental impact, ACC assured that the industrial waste, as well as the emissions emitted in the atmosphere during the process, is treated.