Vedanta Aluminium Signs MOU with TÜV SÜD for Roadmap to Become Water Positive

#VedantaAluminium #NetwaterPositive #TÜVSÜD

Source: Vedanta

“Our partnership with TÜV SÜD will give us access to their global advisory expertise for sustainable water management. There is immense pressure on global water resources, exacerbated by the climate crisis.” - Rahul Sharma, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium

July 2022 : Vedanta Aluminum, India’s largest producer of aluminum, has embarked on its ambitious commitment to turn net water positive, by partnering with TÜV SÜD, a global leader in safety, security & sustainability solutions. Under this partnership, Vedanta Aluminium and TÜV will chart the roadmap for the company’s water positivity goal by working in the areas of baseline study, bolstering the accounting process for water consumption, capacity building for continual improvement and conservation, and implementing innovative solutions & initiatives for a sustainable water footprint.

Water management is a crucial pillar in Vedanta Aluminium’s journey of Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) excellence for climate action, the company is committed to the Vedanta Group’s goal of net water positive operations by 2030.

Underscored by the governing principle of Zero Liquid Discharge, which ensures that all liquid is contained, processed and reused inside operations, Vedanta Aluminum follows a 4-pillared approach to sustainable water management, which includes:

1. Monitoring water usage: The company continuously monitors water intake and usage across operations, thereby identifying high-consumption areas and subsequently putting in measures to optimize water consumption in those areas.
2. Ensuring maximum water reutilization: Through state-of-the-art closed-loop recycling systems and Effluent Treatment Plants (ETP), augmented with Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis, the company is maximizing water reutilization and lowering freshwater intake.
3. Creating a positive footprint: On-site reservoirs and rainwater harvesting infrastructures have been created to increase the quantity of water captured and ultimately replenish more water than is consumed by the company. 9 rainwater harvesting infrastructures were constructed in the last fiscal alone, having a combined water saving potential of 194 million liters.
4. Enabling communities’ access to water and climate-smart agriculture: Vedanta Aluminium is building and rejuvenating hundreds of community water infrastructures like ponds and percolation tanks to help communities get perennial access to water. The company is also helping local farming communities adopt drip-irrigation, solar-powered water pumps, rainwater harvesting, etc. to boost irrigation potential and reduce dependence on monsoons for cropping. Further, it is training them on growing climate-resilient crops for improving yield in the face of irregular climatic conditions.

As a result of these endeavors, in FY22, the company recycled 15 billion liters of water for inhouse consumption.

Talking about the company’s partnership with TÜV SÜD, Rahul Sharma, CEO – Vedanta Aluminum, said, “Our partnership with TÜV SÜD will give us access to their global advisory expertise for sustainable water management. There is immense pressure on global water resources, exacerbated by the climate crisis. In this decisive decade, we intend to make significant strides towards our commitment to Net Water Positive operations. Our underlying objective is to ensure water security of our operations and our local communities’ access to good quality water, while helping maintain the ecological balance in the process.”

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