Sustainable development is an integral part of Hindustan Zinc’s business philosophy thus ‘Investing in our Planet’ Earth is a core focus for the company as there is no planet B. The company has taken a holistic view in setting the sustainability goals 2025 and over the next five years, they will focus on expanding the work towards creating positive changes. As a part of its Sustainable Development goals, Hindustan Zinc fosters innovation in the pursuit of a ZERO HARM ecosystem, conservation of resources, improvement of health, safety, and sustainability practices across its operations.

The company focuses on five core elements water, climate change, waste, energy and biodiversity management, setting targets for each and directing our efforts towards improving processes and technologies, the company said.

Little drops make the mighty ocean

Water is a necessity which warrants maximum efforts for its conservation as well as proper management. Hindustan Zinc understands the importance and adopts best practices for making judicious use of water and conserving it. The company constantly looks to enhance and improve its water use efficiency by using less water-intensive technologies and maximising water recycling opportunities to help minimise the use of freshwater.

The company said that as a water positive company, Hindustan Zinc operates Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) in Udaipur. With a current capacity of 60 MLD, the STP can treat nearly all the sewage in the city and deliver processed water that can be reused at the company’s plant. The company’s RO-ZLD plant at Zinc Smelter Debari eliminates waste & discharge and recycles water for reuse in the company’s operations

Yet another noteworthy water conservation effort initiated by Hindustan Zinc are the rainwater harvesting structures at the company’s Rampura Agucha Mine (RAM). These structures enable rainwater harvesting and help replenish water within local watersheds to help Hindustan Zinc further reduce freshwater consumption.

Combating Climate Change

Climate change and extreme weather trends have been recognised as one of the key risks faced by humanity. Hindustan Zinc has taken concrete steps towards tackling climate change. The dedicated environmental sustainability efforts has led the company to take on the role of ‘COP26 Business Leader’ in shaping the agenda for COP 26.

The company had launched its first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report based on TCFD recommendations and guidance to align their reporting process with best practice of global climate reporting. Further, demonstrating its pledge to assist the fight against climate change, Hindustan Zinc has committed to the long-term target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 in alignment with the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi).

Hindustan Zinc understands that the pursuit of environmental sustainability must be multifaceted and that is why biodiversity conservation too is an important aspect of the company’s green efforts. To that end, Hindustan Zinc joined the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) forum and has entered a three year-long engagement with TNFD partner, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Hindustan Zinc’s ingenuity in this regard is also witnessed in the fact that it repurposes waste generated at its facilities for construction of roads. The company also holds a US patent for manufacturing of paver blocks from process waste which is a unique model of creating livelihood opportunities for its communities.  

Bringing Smart Solutions to Operations

To realize its dream to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 Hindustan zinc is investing in the latest technologies benchmarking global practices and bringing subject matter experts on board. the company is all set to invest $1 billion to turn its mining operations environment-friendly.  To this regards the company has signed an MoU with Normet Group Oy and Epiroc Drills AB to deploy EVs for production & front-line servicing in their underground mines.

Hindustan Zinc also understands the journey towards decarbonisation needs more than just replacing underground frontline vehicles with electric alternatives and has a fleet of electric scooters for security staff, passenger EVs, and underground service EVs for mines.

The company is conscious about the fact that switching to renewable power helps in reducing carbon emissions to half and has undertaken ₹350 crore-investment project in renewable energy for its smelting operations. Towards this goal, the company has approved the proposal for entering long term group captive Renewable Power development plan up to a capacity of 200MW.