Golden Peacock Environment Management Award

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has been awarded with the Golden Peacock Environment Management award for the year 2020 in the steel sector. The award was given for its efforts in adopting various environmental measures like upgrading pollution control facilities, treatment and recirculation of wastewater from individual units and outfalls, enhancement in green cover and efficient solid waste management. SAIL has received the award for two consecutive years.

About the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award

Golden Peacock Environment Management Award is a prestigious award that was instituted by the World Environment Foundation in 1998. The award encourages the corporates to enhance their environmental performances.

Achievements of SAIL

The Environment Management Division of SAIL was established in 1989. The unit has been playing a pivotal role in consolidating the efforts of SAIL towards environment protection.

The major activities of Environment Management Division of SAIL are as follows

• Solid waste management initiatives,  water conservation efforts and plantation.
• Environmental auditing and environmental accounting.
• Organising workshops and training programmes.
• Coordination with Steel plants for environmental compliance
• Environmental appraisal of projects

Environmental Performance Indicators

SAIL showed improvement in the following key Environmental Performance Indicators

• Particulate matter emission reduced by 16%
• Carbon dioxide emission reduced by 2%
• Water consumption reduced by 9%
• Effluent discharge reduced by 14%
• Effluent load reduced by 13%
• Solid waste recycling increased by 5%
• Blast furnace slag utilisation increased by 11%

Water conservation

In order to reduce the water consumption Zero Liquid Discharge initiative was launched. Under this initiative adequate steps to implement treatment and recycling of water was introduced.

Waste management

SAIL adopted the principle of 4R. They are reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery. The solid waste such as blast furnace dust, blast furnace slag are utilised completely. The blast furnace slag is utilised in cement industries.

Bio-Digesters

Bio digester have been installed with the capacity of 400 kilogram per day inside SAIL factory premises. Biodigesters handle biodegradable waste arising out of canteens inside the plant and also from the municipal waste generated from households in its Township.

Polychlorinated biphenyls

The Polychlorinated Biphenyls are toxic environmental pollutants. They are categorised as Persistent Organic Pollutants under the International Agreement on Managing Persistent Organic Pollutants of Stockholm Convention.

According to the notification on Regulation of Polychlorinated Biphenyl issued in April 2016 by Government of India, the use of Polychlorinated Biphenyl in any form shall be prohibited completely by 2025. In order to achieve this, the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change along with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation has initiated a project. The project is being funded by the Global Environmental Facility and SAIL.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2020