Leading FMCG firm Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on Thursday said it has switched to green fuel alternatives such as biomass and biodiesel and has eliminated the usage of coal across its operations.
For this purpose, the company has collaborated with biomass suppliers and local farmers to ensure a sustainable supply of green fuel and has made the necessary changes for the renewable transition in its coal-fired boilers, said an HUL statement.
HUL is a consumer goods company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is a subsidiary of Unilever, a British company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products, water purifiers and other fast-moving consumer goods.
This is a part of an initiative taken by its parent, which had five years ago committed to eliminating coal across its manufacturing operations by 2020. It also comes as a measure of cost savings for the company.
“The company achieved its goals as committed and has now successfully transitioned its three Nutrition factories acquired as part of the GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK CH) merger in April 2020, to zero coal. The newly acquired Nutrition manufacturing units had boilers running on coal which were converted into biomass/biodiesel boilers,” it said.
Commenting on the development, HUL Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta said this achievement is a milestone. “As a company, we have always strived to be people and planet positive and firmly believe that responsible business is the only way forward,” he said.
HUL became the first FMCG company to achieve plastic waste neutrality. Earlier this year, it started processing over 1 lakh tonnes of post-consumer plastic waste through collection from over 100 towns in the country.
HUL Executive Director Supply Chain Willem Uijen said:” I am delighted that we could move our new factories from our GSK acquisition into renewable energy usage quickly. The impact of this transition not only increases HUL’s green footprint but also improves the quality of air around its factories and enhances the income of farmers through the buying of biomass.” HUL’s manufacturing units have already been operating with 100 per cent renewable grid electricity since 2019 through onsite solar generation, offsite solar and wind generation, and hydro-based grid power purchase.
Uijen, who is also part of HUL’s environment committee, said HUL has a network of 32 manufacturing sites across the country, covering all product categories since 98% of everything that HUL sells in India is produced in India.
The majority of these plants use a lot of heat, which is generated in boilers. “In 2019, all factories we had in HUL at that point in time, we transitioned out of coal and used two alternative fuels—furnace oil, which is still a petrol or a crude oil-derived fuel, and biomass,” Uijen said.
Its food & refreshment manufacturing unit in Nashik has onboarded three offsite wind turbine generators for captive consumption in addition to the onsite solar photovoltaic plant.
“The move from coal to green fuel shall provide an impetus to HUL’s endeavour to ensure 100 per cent of energy across its operations comes from renewable sources, and that the company will directly support the generation of more renewable energy than it consumes,” it said.
