Sustainable Development Within Chemical Industries

What is Sustainable Development?

There is no universally quoted definition of sustainability; it has different viewpoints and concepts over the world. Breaking it down into simple terms: sustainability is fulfilling the present generation’s needs without risking the needs of the future generation. Sustainability is a new idea in today’s world- it is not just about environmentalism, but it is also about social equity, economic development, and conservationism. From the last decade, all this was put together in the call of ‘sustainable development.’ Sustainability focuses more on present moments, while sustainable development is more about a long-term vision.

Why is Sustainable Development Important?

The intentions behind sustainability are often perceived differently by everyone. Ethically speaking, it is the kind of future we are leaving for the generations to come.

Some of the many reasons why so many people, organizations, communities are making constant efforts towards achieving the goal of sustainability and becoming sustainable businesses are mentioned below:

Non-renewable sources like fossil fuels are depleting at a much faster rate. Around 68 billion tons of fossil fuel is consumed every year, which is 100 times the rate at which it replenishes.
Australia has experienced the worst bushfire season. Severe Locust swarming has been experienced by Africa. Air pollution amplifying the spread of COVID-19. Heatwaves in Antarctica rising the temperature above 20 degrees for the very first time. These are just snippets of the events taking place as a result of greenhouse emission gases which caused temperatures to rise.
According to Global Risk Report 2020, biodiversity loss was one of the top five risks. Around 17% of the Amazon forest has already been destroyed.
The production of plastic has jumped from 2 million tons in 1950 to 419 million tons per year in 2015.
According to the world health organization, 4 to 7 million people die every year from air pollution worldwide.

To have the desired quality of lifestyle and to ensure the same for our future generations, we need to start addressing the above issues. If we don’t change now, we will be destroying the atmosphere beyond repair.

How is the chemical industry involved?

Products from the chemical industry are inevitable to human life, but they also have a major part to play in degrading the environment and depleting non-renewable sources. To have a valuable share in sustainability, chemical industries need to address this paradox by coming up with chemical products and processes that strike a balance between the needs of present and future generations. We need to go with green chemistry, but the words ‘green’ and ‘chemicals’ do not typically go together.

In India, the Chemical industry has become a driver of our country’s economic growth and contributes to social and economic development. In the last couple of decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the growth of chemical industries, with a wide range of products in its credits. So the generation of chemical pollutants and the untreated waste effluent have damaged the ecology in its surrounding to a great extent. According to the reports prepared by the Tata strategic management group, India’s hazardous waste had climbed from 0.6 million tons in 2003 to 10 million tons in 2018. Still, the massive problem is that this increase was not accompanied by an increase in treating and disposing of this waste. Chemical industries, from public opinion, are one of the biggest causes of environmental degradation.

The Three Pillars of Sustainability

The three pillars of Sustainability are the social pillar, the economic pillar, and the environmental pillar. This concept is said to be an assurance that will lead to a stronger articulation of the environmental and social impressions of the chemical manufacturing process. This concept of pillars of sustainable development originated the need to reconstruct business models so that all the three parameters are incorporated and done justice to.

A point of no return has been reached by the world for Sustainability, with organizations facing increasing challenges from growing complexities across their value chains as well as consumer expectations of corporate responsibility.

Suman Chemical Laboratories – Walking Towards Sustainable Development

A number of common practices towards achieving Sustainability within the industry arose out of surveys and research that were conducted. This embraced the need to restrict the use of non-renewable feedstock, energy sources and to promote the need for sustainable development throughout the industry.

Some actions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the industry:

§ Recycling of hazardous waste-

we are one of the best waste management companies in Gujarat and take the best of our efforts to reduce the loads on landfills. Recycling hazardous waste is beneficial not only for the environment, but it is also good for the organization’s bottom line. It helps in reducing the cost associated with waste management and raw materials, along with increasing production efficiency.

§ Zero waste disposal-

All the recycling activities at Suman Chemical Laboratories are executed in a state-of-the-art chemical facility, ensuring that zero waste is dumped into the landfill. We go with eco-friendly recycling services.

§ Wastewater disposal-

all the waste effluent generated during various chemical processes are tested in our laboratories and are sent to a water treatment plant situated at Gujarat industrial development corporation. The effluent is treated and reused.

§ Waste Heat Recovery-

We use a mechanism that converts the heat produced while treating the hazardous waste into steam. This steam is then used for the downstream operations.

§ Sustainability of People and Process-

many chemicals used in the industry can harm the health of our employees and end-users in terms of handling the chemicals throughout the life cycle of the product or process. Suman Laboratories

give equal prominence to its people by ensuring good health and safety of the workers. We constantly engage ourselves with HAZOP studies and periodic fire drills, and safety workshops.

Concluding thoughts

As a responsible corporate citizen, Suman Chemical Laboratories endeavors to take up sustainable, accountable, and ethical business practices to promote economic growth. A quality performance is one of the cornerstones of our company, and we do not compromise on it. We are making constant efforts towards setting a new benchmark for Sustainability.

We look forward to areas that impact the capability of the business economy and how we can benefit the surrounding people. At Suman Chemical Laboratories, we believe it is our responsibility to ensure maximum safety for our people and adopt safe, injury-free, and environmentally responsible business practices.