Chemplast Sanmar's eco-friendly initiative

Chemplast Sanmar has taken a pioneering step to install an effluent treatment process that would help its plant at Mettur achieve the status of zero discharge of effluents.

The company has finalised an order with a US multi-national company that has a presence in India, for supply of an advanced reverse osmosis treatment plant, evaporator and crystalliser at an investment of Rs 26 crore.

This is a customised technology for zero dischargeof effluents and Chemplast Sanmar will be the first in the country to apply this technology to the chemical industry and achieve zero discharge of effluents.For Chemplast Sanmar, this project will provide the added advantage of water conservation.

The entire quatity of treated effluent water of around 2,000 kilo litres per day arising in both PVC and chloro-chemicals plants, will be fully recycled and reused in the process thus conserving precious water resource.

Post implementation, the project invovles an annual expenditure of Rs 4 crore towards power, treating chemicals and consumables.

The project will be completed by October 2007 and would help Chemplast Sanmar stay well ahead of all statutory requirements across regions to bring its waste management standards to better than global levels.

The company is also investing Rs 75 crore to convert the production process of caustic soda at its Mettur facility from a mercury cell based to a membrane cell based process. Though not statutorily warranted, the company has taken the initiative well ahead of time to implement this process which is likely to be completed by May 2007.

This project will bring about significant reduction in energy consumption to the tune of 930 kw per ton of caustic soda produced. This initiative will involve recurring maintenance costs for the company as the membranes have to be intermittently replaced to maintain the efficiency of the plant.