HUL switches to green fuel; becomes carbon-free in all operations, Retail News, AND Retail

New Delhi: Main company FMCG HUL said on Thursday it had switched to green alternative fuels such as biomass and biodiesel and phased out the use of coal in all of its operations. The company worked with local biomass suppliers and farmers to ensure a sustainable supply of green fuel and made the necessary changes to transition to renewable energy in its coal-fired boilers, a statement from HUL said.

In addition, the switch from coal to renewable energy sources has also saved the company money, he added.

It’s part of an initiative by its Anglo-Dutch parent company Unilever, which pledged five years ago to phase out coal from its manufacturing operations by 2020.

“The company has met its targets as promised 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 carbon. The newly acquired nutrition manufacturing units had coal fired boilers which were converted to biomass / biodiesel boilers, ”he said.

Commenting on the development, HUL Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Mehta said this achievement is an important milestone.

“As a company, we have always strived to be positive about people and the planet and firmly believe that a responsible business is the only way forward,” he said.

Willem Uijen, Executive Director of Supply Chain at HUL, said: “I am delighted that we were able to quickly move our new factories from our acquisition of GSK to using renewable energy. The impact of this transition not only increases HUL’s green footprint, but also improves the air quality around its factories and improves farmers’ incomes through the purchase of biomass.

HUL’s manufacturing units have already been operating on 100% renewable grid electricity since 2019 through on-site solar generation, off-site solar and wind generation, and the purchase of electricity from the hydropower grid.

Its food and beverage manufacturing unit in Nashik has onboard three wind turbine generators off-site for captive consumption in addition to the on-site solar PV plant.

“The shift from coal to green fuel will boost HUL’s efforts to ensure that 100% of the energy in its operations comes from renewable sources, and that the company will directly support the production of more renewable energy than it needs. ‘consumes it,’ he said. .