JK Cement Limited is driving decarbonisation across the value chain and has committed to SBTi targets with a reduction of carbon emissions by 21.7% from 680 in base year FY20 to 532 kg CO2/t cementitious material by FY30. In the last three years, we have reduced by 17.2% to 563 kgCO2/t cementitious till FY2023-Q2 which include both Scope-1 and Scope-2 emissions.
As a global member of GCCA, we joined the UNFCC’s “Race to Zero” and will produce net zero concrete by 2050, including reducing specific net scope-1 carbon emissions by 19.8% from 580 in base year FY20 to 465 kg CO2/t cementitious material by FY30. In the last three years, we have reduced this by 9.82% to 523 kgCO2/t cementitious till FY2023-Q2 which include net Scope-1 emission.
Our major focus areas to decarbonise for 2030 are reducing the clinker factor, replacement of fossil fuel with AFR, replacement of fossil power with clean energy, improving energy efficiency and increasing the green treasure.
Transition Towards Green Energy: Amongst the Indian Cement Sector, JK Cement Limited submitted the UN’s Energy Compact to MNRE with a target to increase green energy share from 19% in the base year 2020 to 75% in 2030. Up to FY2023-Q2, our green energy mix has increased up to 42.9% and we are further investing to increase the capacity of existing WHRS, install new WHRS systems and increase the RE consumption and we expect to reach 50% by FY 2025.
Circular Economy: As part of the conservation of natural resources we have reduced the clinker factor from 70.3% in base year FY20 to 65% till FY2023-Q2 by consuming the industrial waste such as fly ash and slag etc.
Shifting towards the cleaner fuel by replacing fossil with AFR and biomass, we have increased our TSR from 6% in base year FY20 to 11.2% till FY2023-Q2. We consumed industrial liquid and solid waste, biomass, RDF and plastic waste etc. and aim to reach 35% TSR till FY30 and are accordingly expanding our capacity.
Energy Efficiency: On the energy conservation front, we replaced our old pre-heaters, grinding systems, compressors etc. with the state of the art highly energy efficient pre-heaters, VRM and Roller press as grinding system, air-cooled screw compressors, energy efficient motors and VFD. We have reduced the specific power from 73.6 kWh/t cement in base year FY20 to 63 kWh/t cement till FY2023-Q2.
Sustainable Mining: We implemented world’s best sustainable mining practices and our mines have been recognised and awarded for 5 star rated mines.
Water Stewardship: We have improved water positivity from 3.2 times in base year FY20 to 4.6 times till FY22 by adopting water efficient technologies and practices across the operations and increasing the aquifer recharge and further working within and beyond the fence to achieve the FY30 target of becoming 5 times water positive.
Biodiversity: We celebrated World Environment Day on 5th June 2022 with the inauguration of Biodiversity Park as part of its 2030 “Nature Positive” plan. This project is the first of its kind which will act as a carbon sink and will provide safe and secure habitat for the conservation of local flora and fauna and will improve the ecological footprint of the quarry. The project is speeded over 50 ha area of mine in the Chittorgarh district of Rajasthan and will be completed in three years.
We have implemented the Miyawaki technique to increase our green treasure from 33% regulatory requirement to 42% till FY 2022 against the 2030 SGD target of 40% and planted ~11 lakhs native species in 560 ha area.
Social Welfare: To contribute toward the SDGs through various community welfare programs we have reached out to more than 5 lakh people residing around our operations and spent ~ Rs. 16.9 Cr in FY22 to improve the socio-economic status of the community. The various focus areas are education, community welfare, environment sustainability, health and sanitation, COVID support, sports promotion, rural development and livelihood promotion.
Diversity: We provide a safe and secure workplace to our women workforce. As of now, we have 2.4% of women in our workforce and we aim to reach 5% by FY 2030.
Safety: As part of our safe working culture, we are committed to providing safe, healthy and conducive working environment for all employees and stakeholders. Our Zero Harm programme, which began in FY 2019-20, is all about continuous improvements in achieving zero fatalities and injuries, both on-site and off-site.
Capacity Building: Continuous learning and professional development are a core part of our Company. In our 2025 targets, we aim to achieve 20 man hours training per employee. In FY 2022, we provided 11 man hours of training per employee.
GreenCO Rating System: Our Muddapur, Karnataka unit has just made history by receiving GREENCO PLATINUM RATING from CII in FY22. It is the only integrated cement plant awarded the GREENCO PLATINUM rating which has established benchmarks in the finest ecological practices. The rating process considered the plant as one of the world’s best integrated plant considering implementation of best available technologies and practices for decarbonisation, water stewardship, biodiversity, product quality and community welfare activities.
Our Mangrol Cement Plant in Rajasthan has also received GREENCO GOLD RATING from CII in FY22. It is our Second Cement Plant to receive CII’s GreenCO rating for the implementation of best practices for a sustainable future and establishing benchmarks for others.
In our endeavours to deliver sustainable green product, our blended cement has received Prestigious CII GreenPro Ecolabelling Accreditation in FY22.
Net Zero aspiration: We are looking for replacement of fossil fuel by adopting the emerging technologies such as green fuel, the transition towards green energy and techno-economical solutions.