Tata Chemicals wins ‘Best Innovation in CSR’ award at ICIS Innovation Awards 2009
Mumbai, October 20, 2009

Mumbai: Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) won the globally known ICIS Innovation Award 2009 for ‘Best Innovation in Corporate and Social Responsibility’ for its effort in greening of alkali and saline sediments. The awards were announced on October 19, 2009. TCL’s novel approach to solving environmental problems at its soda ash facility in Mithapur earned it the award.

The company’s innovative project has reclaimed 22 out of 30 acres of waste dumps near its site in Mithapur, Gujarat, to reduce dust generation that was affecting local inhabitants. For 20 years the dust had been suppressed by spraying with seawater, thus making the soil quality poor. TCL engaged The Energy & Resources Institute, New Delhi, which identified the most suitable plants and developed a microorganism inoculation to help them extract nutrients from the soil. At the same time, TCL developed and introduced advanced filtration technology to prevent the disposal of soda ash effluent into settling ponds for the future.

Speaking on the achievement, R Mukundan, managing director, Tata Chemicals Limited, said, “This award vindicates TCL’s ability to provide effective and novel solutions for ecological issues around. The roots of being sustainable and contributing to social needs are embedded in our value system which is also validated by our credo The Human Touch of Chemistry. Each one at TCL constantly works towards creating value through innovative solutions for the organisation, community around, environment and society in general. Innovation and environment are among the key stakeholder issues in our business journey and we will consistently build an organisational climate which fosters innovation and keeps contributing to the environment and the cause of climate change.”

The ICIS Innovation Awards are designed to recognise companies that have made significant steps forward in technological and business innovation, with tangible results emerging during 2008 and the early part of this year. The awards are open to companies around the world, reflecting ICIS's global coverage of the industry. The judges were looking for innovative projects that solve problems / provide solutions or a demonstration of an innovative approach to an R&D project by the company entering and / or its customers.