ACC updates on sustainable development achievements

ACC Ltd of India, part of the LafargeHolcim group, yesterday released its 2016 Sustainability Report where its emissions show a reduction of 30 per cent from the 1990 baseline.

Among the highlights from the report, during the year ACC commissioned Hybrid Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) at its Jamul plant and and upgraded its coal mill bag house and cooler ESP at the Gagal plant.

The new Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system at the Wadi and Chanda, and sewage water treatment plants at Lakheri and Damodhar, will further improve ACC’s water and waste management performance, the company noted.

On the energy front, improvements were made thanks to ACC’s wind farms, waste heat recovery unit and power purchase agreements. In addition, petcoke consumption was increased from 18 per cent in 2015 to 62 per cent in 2016.

ACC expects its co-processing infrastructure to be further strengthened following the completion of a waste pre-processing facility at Madukkarai, Tamil Nadu, which is under execution. This will be the company’s third such unit after the two pre-processing facilities at Wadi in Karnataka and Kymore in Madhya Pradesh.

In 2016, ACC utilised 3.9Mt of fly ash, 2.67Mt of slag, 1.1Mt of crushed rock fines and 0.32Mt of alternative materials.

Commenting on the company’s achievements, Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director & CEO, said. “This was a year when ACC was again singled out as being among “India’s Most Sustainable” and felicitated with the prestigious CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2016 for “Outstanding Accomplishment” in recognition of its continued effort and commitment to the cause of Sustainable Development. This is the third time in the last four years when we are recipients of this award, considered to be among the country’s most coveted in the field of corporate sustainable development."