HUL scraps coal usage across operations, replaces with green alternatives

The shift from coal to renewable energy sources has also resulted into savings for HUL, says the FMCG major

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has eliminated coal usage across its operations and replaced it with green alternatives such as biomass and biodiesel, the company said in a release. 

The country’s largest consumer goods manufacturer has collaborated with biomass suppliers and local farmers to ensure sustainable supply of green fuel and made the necessary changes for the renewable transition in its coal-fired boilers.

The shift from coal to renewable energy sources has also resulted into savings for HUL, the company said. 

Citing an example, HUL said that at one of its home care plants, it found solutions to eliminate coal usage, which has helped achieve Rs 3.5 crore in fuel savings whilst reducing 4 million kgs of carbon dioxide emissions and increasing fuel efficiency as well.

Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, HUL said, “This is a milestone achievement in our compass journey and our commitment towards achieving zero emissions in our operations by 2030." He added, "As a company, we have always strived to be people and planet positive and firmly believe that responsible business is the only way forward.”

The journey towards zero coal had started over five years ago with Unilever committing to eliminate coal across its manufacturing operations by 2020. The company achieved its goals as committed and has now successfully transitioned its three nutrition factories acquired as part of the GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare merger in April 2020, to zero coal. The newly acquired nutrition manufacturing units had boilers running on coal which were converted into biomass/biodiesel boilers, HUL said. 

Willem Uijen, Executive Director Supply Chain, HUL said, “I’m delighted that we could move our new factories from our GSK acquisition into renewable energy usage quickly. The impact of this transition not only increases HUL’s green footprint but also improves the quality of air around its factories and enhances the income of farmers through the buying of biomass.” 

HUL’s manufacturing units have already been operating with 100% renewable grid electricity since 2019 through on-site solar generation, offsite solar & wind generation, and hydro based grid power purchase. 

The maker of Kissan Ketchup’s food & refreshment manufacturing unit in Nashik has onboarded three offsite wind turbine generators for captive consumption in addition to the onsite solar Photovoltaic plant. 

“The move from coal to green fuel shall provide an impetus to HUL’s endeavour to ensure 100 per cent of energy across its operations comes from renewable sources, and that the company will directly support the generation of more renewable energy than it consumes,” it said.