A sustainable business is one that serves an enduring purpose in society, and considers, in all its decision-making, the varied forms of value it can deliver to all stakeholders, including the natural environment. We, at Hindustan Zinc, have made sustainability central to our growth and value-creation journey, and remain focussed on ensuring safe operations with minimum environmental impact of our business across the lifecycle. We have ingrained into the organisational fabric a strong sense of respect for human rights, and the ethos of sharing the benefits of business with our stakeholders. Our strategic approach is aligned with national and international standards, Sustainable Development Goals, and driven by the vision of the Company’s leadership.
In the year 2020, we set out a series of goals, spanning the full breadth of Environmental (E), Social (S) and Governance (G), in the shape of our Sustainability Goals 2025. While we have made good progress towards the delivery of those goals, we recognise that as the world changes, society’s expectations from us also evolve. Our commitments must be relevant and capable of bridging any gaps, to help the business expand. Just as financial performance presents an opportunity for differentiation, we see sustainability no differently – it is integral to our work, and business performance.
Our sustainability vision is centred on ‘ZERO HARM, ZERO DISCHARGE, ZERO WASTE’, and our ambitious sustainability journey is steered by our Sustainability Goals 2025. For us, these goals constitute an action agenda to achieve our long-term ambition of creation and delivery of value to our stakeholders, across the value chain. We strongly believe that these goals will enable us to address the expectations of our stakeholders, while giving us many reasons to celebrate our journey of inclusive and holistic growth, and value creation.
At Hindustan Zinc, we have implemented a three-tiered sustainability governance framework to organise our thoughts and ideas, undertake informed planning, evaluate activities, and ensure accountability on all aspects of environmental, social, and governance issues. The framework also enables us to set short-term and long-term goals and monitor performance systematically in alignment with our sustainability priorities at every level of the organisation.
We have established an Executive Sustainability Committee, chaired by the Company’s CEO and involving all the 10-communities heads and executive committee members. The committee meets monthly to review the progress on all Sustainability Goals 2025. It is responsible for formulating the sustainability strategy, and the long-term goals and targets of the Company. It plays a strategic role in all business decisions for ensuring workplace safety. The focus is on eliminating any potential damage to the environment, in line with the Company’s stakeholder commitment and maintaining its reputation.
To drive the Sustainability Goals 2025, we have established the following sustainability communities to review progress against their respective goals. These committees that comprise the champions of all the units, meet once a month.
We continually identify, assess, and mitigate risks arising out of internal and external factors. To ensure an internal formal monitoring process at the Company level, new risks are identified, categorised as per impact and likelihood, and mapped to key responsibilities of certain managers. More than 100-line managers are aligned within a structural governance set-up across all SBUs to manage risks with an appropriate mitigation plan and to drive the ESG agenda.
Mr. Akhilesh JoshiNon-Executive - Independent Director - Chairperson
Mr. Arun MisraExecutive Director - Member
Ms. Nirupama KotruNon-Executive - Nominee Director - Member
Ms. Veena Kumari DermalNon-Executive - Nominee Director - Member
Various sub-goals and action plans have been identified for the implementation of planned goals and their effective monitoring. These action-plans have been discussed in detail in our Sustainability Review Report.
0.5 Mn TCO2e GHG emission savings in our operations from base year 2017
Become 5x water positive company and achieve 25% reduction in freshwater
3x Increase in gainful utilisation of smelting process waste
Positively impacting 1 million lives through social, economic, and environmental initiatives
Protect and enhance biodiversity throughout the life cycle
Inclusive and diverse workplace with 30% diversity
Zero Work-related fatalities and 50% reduction in Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR)
100% Responsible Sourcing in the supply chain
In addition to specific initiatives, we also continued, during the year, to drive our ongoing technological and operational initiatives towards the realisation of our circular economy goals.
The circular economy entails elimination of waste throughout our entire value chain and works to establish a net-positive system to ultimately protect the Earth’s finite supply of natural resources. As a leading organisation, we promote responsible production of materials. We comply with all regulatory requirements and have the necessary permits for treating and recycling waste at our operation site.
Our waste to wealth community is continually working on optimising use of raw materials and exploring ways to reuse/ recycle the waste products created during the manufacturing process. It regularly monitors and reviews the progress on this front and formulates relevant strategies to achieve ‘Increase in 3x gainful utilisation of smelting process waste’ – one of the Company’s Sustainability Goals 2025.
During the year, we took several innovative initiatives to steer the shift from traditional manufacturing approach of ‘produce-use-dispose’ to a more efficient, sustainable, and environment-friendly methodology.
These include: