NEW DELHI: Continuing its green journey, JK Tyre & Industries Limited (JKTIL) furthers its commitment to sustainability and emerging as a responsible corporate citizen. With an aim to reduce carbon footprint across every facet of its global business, it has been at the forefront of advocating green manufacturing in the country ensuring that sustainability is extended beyond the products they make.
Increasing use of renewable energy
JK Tyre places focus on the use of green and clean energy, resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gases and dependence on fossil fuels. With this in focus, the company installed solar panels in its manufacturing units across Rajasthan, Mysuru, Chennai, and Gwalior to harvest 14.7MWp of energy organically.
Another ecological support initiative was replacing coal with other renewable resources such as biomass, and development of alternate green coal by planting more than 25000 bamboo trees. To reduce the green house emission further it procured wind power for its Chennai and Mysuru plants to finally reach a level of 55% of renewable power contribution in its total demand.
These efforts helped JK Tyre reduce its carbon emission intensity by 53% in the last 7 years and increase renewables in its power mix to 55%, to annually increase by 2-5%.
Now, JK Tyre aims to substitute thermal energy with renewable sources and has already started working in the direction. Substitution of coal with biomass is one of the major steps taken in this regard, and the company is committed to increasing its contribution by more than 20% by the end of the current fiscal.
Water conservation efforts
With an increased focus on Water efficiency, JK Tyre has been setting new benchmarks in water conservation practices. The company is heavily engaged in activities such as harvesting pits, trenching, de-silting etc. In 2019, JK Tyre became the first Indian tyre manufacturer to participate in the CDP Water Security 2019.
The company reduced water consumption at the Kankroli Plant to 1.25 liter/kg and set a global benchmark for the lowest water use per kg of tyre manufactured anywhere. Consequentially, these efforts towards water conservation earned JK Tyre the CII National Water Award in December 2020.
Zero Waste to Landfill
Under the zero waste to landfill initiative, JK Tyre initiated the program for Zero waste to landfill. To aid this effort, the company has developed a robust integrated waste management system at all five plants and aims to reduce the quantum of waste being directed to landfills by 2-5% every year over the next ten years. For its efforts, it received a certification from the British Standards Institution, after a thorough audit in February 2021.
Anil Makkar, Manufacturing Director said, “Sustainability essentially has three foundations-Social, Economic and Environment, the Company’s initiatives on all three fronts are unprecedented and they aspire to succeed with every passing day. Regardless of the fact that the market cycle is not in a very stable condition with the current pandemic, JK Tyre has continued its social initiatives at different locations and the achievements are evident from continuous progress in every vertical.”
JK Tyre will continue to contribute towards building a sustainable society by balancing operations with the environment, being in harmony with nature, and improving the quality of life for all. It is a responsible corporate and giving back to the community is central to the culture of the Company. JK Tyre is not only driven by the need to make the world a better place through the manufacturing of a safer and technologically advanced product, but also by widening its prosperity circle
