Chennai: Hindustan Zinc, India’s largest producer of zinc, lead, and silver, observed “No Vehicle Day” by adopting eco-friendly alternatives for transportation on ‘National Energy Conservation Day’. The day was celebrated in a unique way by spreading awareness on reducing the carbon footprint, promoting energy conservation, and reducing pollution generated by automobiles. All the senior personnel, employees, and staff including the CEO, throughout the business’s operational sites, travelled to their office either on foot, via bicycle, shared rickshaw, public transportation, or through carpooling with their colleagues on Tuesday.
Rallies were held at the company’s unit sites to raise awareness, and other activities such as quiz competitions, plant distribution, commitment board signing, and a skit performance were also organised. These diverse activities piqued the employees’ interest, and many pledged to limit the usage of their private vehicles as much as possible. In India, the transportation sector emits an estimated 261 tonnes of CO2, with road transport accounting for 94.5%. A typical passenger vehicle emits around 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. By avoiding driving for even a single day, one can minimise their carbon footprint by around 0.5 tonnes over a year.
Mr. Arun Misra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, expressing his thoughts on this remarkable way of commemorating Energy Conservation Day, said, “The primary objective of honouring this day is to raise awareness and understanding among all employees regarding the significance of curtailing their carbon footprint and encourage them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding the use of fossil fuels. We also encouraged all to use cycles and public transportation on a daily basis in order to contribute to a pollution-free environment and be the environmentally conscious citizens of India. Hindustan Zinc is committed to the cause of sustainability and to ensure GHG emission reductions in a substantive number in the next four to five years.”
Hindustan Zinc is dedicated to reducing carbon emissions on a continuous basis, with sustainability as an overriding goal of its growth objectives. Through a series of innovative and emerging initiatives, the company is taking proactive steps toward attaining its target of reducing its carbon footprint by 500,000 tons of CO2. These include the deployment of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in underground mining, the installation of variable frequency drives to minimise auxiliary power usage, and the revamping of CPP turbines, among other things.
