Optimizing resources for a better tomorrow

At Lupin, we strive to develop operational efficiencies, minimizing our impact on the environment, minimizing resource consumption, and avoiding waste generation. The Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability policy of Lupin highlights our position on environmental stewardship and our focus on creating a safe and healthy workplace for all our employees.

To accomplish our objectives, we drive both product and process innovation to achieve energy efficiency and water recycling in our operations, thereby reducing our environmental footprint.

We have strong internal mechanisms to effectively monitor and mitigate environmental risks at the site level and our overarching position on environmental performance improvement, governance and oversight is maintained by a dedicated corporate team. The identified EHS risks are periodically reviewed by the Board every quarter. The corporate EHS team as well as site-level EHS teams also ensure a high-degree of compliance to applicable environmental laws and regulations and we proactively engage with regulatory authorities to identify emerging areas of risk and understand the viable mitigation measures.

Preserving The Environment

We are inexorably dependent on the environment that we breathe in and the society that we thrive in. Making a positive impact on the environment is a prerequisite to securing health and well-being for all. For us, natural capital is an asset that must be preserved, enhanced, and deployed in ways that add sustainable value for all.

Whilst there are significant strides to be made, we seek to strike a dynamic balance by consistently maximizing resource use and minimizing our environmental impact. As we confront the climate emergency, we acknowledge our responsibility to engage and collaborate with our stakeholders and work towards accelerating the transition to a Net Zero future.

Across the business, our approach is guided by the precautionary principle of environmental stewardship and we aim to prevent pollution and abate environmental impact. In our operations, we have implemented initiatives to enhance energy and water use efficiency, as well as minimize waste. We have also invested in renewable energy to reduce our carbon footprint and be at the leading edge of deploying cleaner technologies and processes across our operations. Our environmental stewardship extends beyond our premises and we actively educate and encourage our employees, partners and suppliers to adopt environment friendly practices.

Energy
management
Renewable energy consumption at our Manufacturing and R&D sites increased from 10.3% to 12.2%
Total Energy Consumed:
3,055,142 GJ
Waste
management
Around 57% of incinerable hazardous waste generated from our plants in FY21 was sent for co-processing/pre-processing for use as alternate fuel in cement plants
Total incinerable hazardous waste:
8,653 MT
Water & effluent
management
Saving of 742,179 kilo litres of fresh water by recovery and reuse of water from wastewater. This constitutes 29% of the total water consumed.
Total water consumed:
2,559,253 kilo litres
GHG
emissions
Emissions savings of 9,775 tCO2e
Total GHG emissions:
751,792 tCO2e

We optimize energy use by investing in new energy efficient technologies and developing cleaner processes.

We have made a conscious effort to migrate to cleaner fuel substitutes such as renewable energy in the form of biomass briquettes made from agricultural waste and cleaner fuels like natural gas, along with fuel additives, in order to improve combustion efficiency and reduce overall energy demand. Currently, nonrenewable energy sources constitute the highest percentage share in our energy mix, where purchased electricity constitutes a significant share of our energy consumption, followed by furnace oil, biomass, coalbased steam purchase, natural gas, agro-waste based steam purchase, diesel and wind energy.

Fuel Source Consumption (GJ)
Non-Renewable Sources
Diesel
80,704
Furnace oil
719,814
Natural gas
228,197
Electricity purchased (Grid ETC)
1,340,529
Steam purchased - coal
312,498
Renewable Sources
Solar-captive
5,688
Wind-grid
37,228
Biomass (Agro-waste briquette)
330,484
Total 3,055,142

Best practices in manufacturing and energy efficiency are shared across our sites and amongst our plants. Over the past financial year, we have implemented the following resource efficiency and energy savings projects:

  • Heat recovered from compressed air is reused in HVAC systems at Lupin Research Park in Pune.
  • Screw and centrifugal air compressors are replacing reciprocal compressors to enhance energy efficiency.
  • We have transitioned to higher efficiency IE3 and EC motors in all new applications.
  • We are installing energy efficient blowers in HVAC systems, resulting in reduced energy consumption and cost savings of INR 23 million in Aurangabad and Tarapur.
  • We are converting conventional HPMV, HPSV & CFL to energy efficient LED lights.
  • We are using water treatment chemical and online descaling systems in cooling water and chilled water loops to prevent scale formation in heat exchangers. This prevents loss during heat transmission and conserves energy.
  • Waste heat recovery systems are deployed in our boilers at Ankleshwar, Tarapur and Pithampur.
  • Auto tube cleaning systems in chiller condenser were first piloted at Tarapur, Aurangabad, Vizag, and Pithampur and subsequently installed across Pithampur, Mandideep and Goa.
  • We are undertaking load factor improvement for major utility equipment such as chillers and air compressors.
  • Chilled water and condensing water flow optimization by pump and header resizing.
  • We have commissioned 400 KW back pressure steam turbine at Ankleshwar to generate power.

Addressing the climate emergency requires rapid adoption of renewable energy at scale; we are continuously identifying opportunities to do so.

Currently, renewable energy comprises nearly 12% of our fuel mix and we are constantly exploring ways to increase the proportion of renewable energy each year. We have installed solar rooftops at Lupin Research Park, and our Mandideep, Aurangabad, Dabhasa, Ankleshwar and Goa facilities, with a current total installed capacity of 1.2 MW. Additionally, we also purchase 3.7 MW and 1.5 MW of wind power at our Ankleshwar and Dabhasa facilities respectively.

Way forward

Over the next five years, we plan to increase our renewable energy uptake to 15 MW from renewable hybrid power purchase under open access at Mandideep and Ankleshwar, and solar rooftop installations at Pithampur, Nagpur and other locations which have a higher power tariff. This will provide us with significant cost saving as well as a steady and continuous source of power. This will also significantly reduce our environmental impact and reduce our GHG emissions by approximately 109,043 tons of CO2 every year.

effluent management

Lupin is committed to progressively reducing its climate impact

Lupin’s carbon footprint is dependent on our direct and indirect fossil fuel consumption in our operations. Over the years, our operations have witnessed a steady decline in the share of fossil fuels in our energy mix, and hence, our carbon emissions show a decreasing trend, which is promising. Our multiple energy efficiency measures have also contributed to a reduction in our emissions. By utilizing wind and solar power in our processes alone, we have been able to reduce our cumulative GHG emissions by 9,775 tCO2e in FY21.

Where possible, we are exploring opportunities to switch to cleaner fuels like natural gas or renewable agro-based biomass. Agro-based biomass is a carbon neutral source of energy, and does not contribute to the cumulative carbon emissions of Lupin.

Way forward

At two of our plants, we are in the process of converting our existing furnace oil fired boilers to natural gas fired boilers. Natural gas, being a cleaner fuel, will reduce GHG emissions.

Total Emissions (tCO2e)
Total Emissions
Our Total Ghg Emissions tCO2e
Scope 1 - Direct consumption
76,695
Scope 2 - Purchased energy
684,873

Effective water management is important to the overall sustainability of our operations

Water is a scarce resource in India and has several competing uses, especially between priority sectors such as agriculture and households. As an industrial unit, we are cognizant of our responsibility to optimize our water consumption and enhance recycling and reuse of water in order to reduce our freshwater demand.

Our total water consumption for FY21 was 2,559,253 KL. Local industrial/municipal bodies are our main source of freshwater, which is supplemented by ground water and surface water. We aim to reuse, recycle, and replenish water through water recovery plants, water conservation mechanisms and creating awareness amongst our stakeholders to conserve water.

Waste water generated from all sites except one is treated in waste water treatment plants. At nine of our sites, waste water after treatment is further processed in state-of-the-art water recovery plants consisting of Reverse Osmosis (RO), Multiple Effect Evaporator (MEE) and Agitated Thin Film Dryer (ATFD) plants to recover water from the waste water. The recovered water is utilized in utilities, flushing, etc.

Waste water from several of our finished product sites after biological treatment and meeting prescribed norms is utilized for gardening. Only at our Vizag plant, the waste water is disposed to the authorized common effluent treatment plant (CETP).

Several measures have been undertaken in the last year at our plants to reduce our fresh water consumption:

  • Approximately 29% (742,179 KL) of the water consumed at our plants was recovered water from waste water.
  • Rainwater harvesting and AHU condensate water recovery have resulted in the collection of 3,178 KL of water, which has replaced fresh water.

We manage our waste effectively and efficiently to reduce resource wastage, minimize waste being sent to landfills, and increase recycling across the value chain.

Approximately 57% (4,917 MT) of hazardous waste generated at our plants was sent for co-processing/ pre-processing in cement plants. In cement plants, these high calorific incinerable hazardous wastes are used as alternate source of fuel and as raw material. This helps offset consumption of fossil fuels both at waste incineration facilities as well as at the cement plant. This also indirectly results in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the business value chain. One of the other wastes generated in our processes, spent calcium sulphate (7,561 MT) is also sent for utilization in the cement industries.

Spent solvents generated in API manufacturing processes are either recovered in-house and reused or sent to authorized recyclers or disposal facilities. Spent/used oil generated from our operations are also similarly sent to authorized recyclers or disposal facilities.

Our non-hazardous canteen waste and mycelia wastes are either sent to piggeries or composted to convert this waste into usable organic fertilizer (3,515 MT). In the reporting period FY21, we installed and commissioned bio-composters at two of our sites for converting canteen and garden waste to organic fertilizer.

We have installed and commissioned sludge driers at one of our sites in FY21 for drying sludge generated from waste water treatment, prior to disposal to the common disposal facility.

Going forward, we plan to install bio-composter at more sites for converting our canteen and garden waste to organic fertilizer.

Way forward

By 2025, we have plans to send 60% of our incinerable hazardous waste to cement plants for co-processing/pre-processing.

We manage our resource consumption and are constantly evaluating opportunities to reduce and recycle waste.

Through our ‘Project Inspire’, we have deployed two projects to reduce paper consumption by eliminating medical guides and patient information leaflets in product packs. For example, the paper saving through removal of wallet cards in our oral contraceptive products is approximately 200 tons till date.

Awards

Our Goa site was awarded in the Manufacturing Category
(Large) in the

15th CII (WR) SHE Excellence and Innovation Award 2020.

waste management