GURUGRAM, India — In its drive to become a more "responsible and progressive" company, Apollo Tyres Ltd. recently outlined a series of commitments to advance the sustainability of its operations and products over the coming decades.
Apollo, India's largest tire maker and No. 14 worldwide, pledged to be "carbon neutral" by 2050, initially targeting to improve its Scope-1 and Scope-2 emissions intensity by 25% by 2026 versus the baseline year of 2020, according to a statement issued by Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of Gurugram-based Apollo Tyres.
Furthermore, the company aims to increase to 25% the share of renewable power across its total power consumption 2026.
As part of the pledge, Apollo said it aimed to increase the use of sustainable raw materials in its products to 40% by 2030. The profile of sustainable materials, said Apollo, will be 30% biomaterials and 10% recycled materials.
"With an aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2050, we are working towards creating climate-resilient operations," Kanwar said, noting that Apollo has created "dedicated teams" and made investments in energy-saving initiatives to advance decarbonization ambitions.
These initiatives and others are part of the company's commitments in the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) space.
To achieve these targets, the company is investing in research and development and manufacturing and conducting life-cycle assessments of its products, Neeraj said.
The tire maker also intends to improve water-withdrawal intensity by 25% by 2026 against baseline year of 2019 and improve diversity and inclusion to 12% globally by 2026.
Apollo said it already has systems in place to monitor and analyze its greenhouse-gas emissions and report them annually in its sustainability disclosures. The company also has undergone climate-risk assessment and formulated strategies and action plans based on the results of the assessment.
According to Apollo, the company's Andhra Pradesh factory is running completely on energy generated by biomass and its Chennai plant has invested significantly in solar power.
At an overall organization level, nearly 10% of Apollo's power requirement in fiscal 2022 was met by renewable sources, and the company aims to increase this to 25% by 2026.
In terms of water preservation, Apollo said it had taken "several steps" to ensure reuse and recycling of water.
"The company monitors the specific water withdrawn per ton of product and has a roadmap to reduce it over a period," Apollo said.
