CSR: Corporate Sustainability Responsibility

Keith Monteiro
Senior Vice President, Reliance Industries Limited

How does one of the country’s biggest business houses approach sustainability? And how does it walk the talk? How does it employ technology to minimise its environmental footprint? What makes this financially prudent? Keith Monteiro, Senior Vice President, Reliance Industries Limited offers a bird’s eye view.

Sustainability goals set

Sustainability data

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Energy efficiency: RIL continues to work on energy efficiency of equipment and processes by undertaking a variety of initiatives in the field of waste heat recovery, co-generation, process optimisation and technology upgradation.

• Implemented an online monitoring system for live and historical assessment of performance for energy intensive equipment
• Facilitated MP steam generation from lean sponge oil heat exchanger circuit in
  Coker unit
• Real Time Optimiser Implementation in the plant, which resulted in steam consumption reduction
• Hydrocarbon recovery from VGR circuit in LLDPE plant
• Optimisation through enabling LP steam injection to steam turbine to manage steam consumption variation
• Recycling of fly ash in coal-fired boiler to reduce unburnt carbon losses in boilers at HMD
• Commissioned 3.56 MW solar power generation project at Silvassa Manufacturing Division (capex: ₹13.7 crore). The project is expected to generate 5,645 MWh/year, reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emission by 4,600 tonnes of CO2/year
• Conducted trials and achieved biomass firing up to 15% in one coal-fired boiler

Gathering data

The company’s environment management plans include monitoring, trending and analysing GHG and other air emissions. All operating units are ISO-14001 compliant and have robust and matured systems in place to monitor environmental footprints. The continuous emission and effluent monitoring systems (CEMS) for emissions and effluents, installed at the refinery and petrochemical units, transmit real-time data.

Solutions implemented

We have had our facilities LEED-certified, with a zero discharge of solid waste and water, by using biogas plants and STP/ETP plants, thus ensuring statutory compliance and ensuring that the environment remains clean and green.

Economic argument

Between now and 2030, the restoration of 350 million hectares of degraded terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems could generate US$9 trillion in ecosystem services. Restoration could also remove 13 to 26 gigatons of GHG from the atmosphere. The economic benefits of such interventions exceed nine times the cost of investment, whereas inaction is at least three times more costly than ecosystem restoration.

Identification and assessment of potential environmental risks and opportunities from all operations is done through EMS. Necessary operational controls are established for control and mitigation of these risks.