Birla Carbon sets road map to meeting green targets by 2050

MUMBAI, India—Birla Carbon is "On the Road to Net Zero"—quite literally, as that is the title of the chemical company's 2021 sustainability report.

The report, the company's 10th since it began a decade ago, focuses on a net zero aspiration by 2050 and its significant progress with Continual Sustainable Carbonaceous Materials.

The report is available at www.sustainability.birlacarbon.com.

"At Birla Carbon, sustainability and innovation are integral pillars that define success," John Loudermilk, the firm's CEO, said in a statement. "We leverage every aspect to ensure the future of our business, customers, communities, and the world is sustainable."

Loudermilk noted that Birla's receipt of a platinum rating by EcoVadis for sustainable business practices is evidence of sustainability success.

"From a business standpoint, innovation is going to be the mainstay of everything we do at Birla Carbon," he said. "We recognize the risks and rewards of our innovative past (and) learn how to future-focus today's passions and perspectives toward a better tomorrow, and find inspiration to journey together into the unknown."

Joe Gaynor, chief legal officer for sustainability and risk officer for Birla Carbon, said the last decade saw Birla align its activities to match its business vision.

"We have made efforts and taken bold steps to cement our position in the market as a preferred sustainable partner for our customers," Gaynor said. "This, for us, is our real achievement. We believe in providing value to our customers primarily by developing innovative products that benefit our common value chains; constantly strive to make our operations more sustainable so that we minimize our environmental footprint; and ultimately, give back to the communities and the society in which we operate."

Among many other metrics, highlights of the report include receipt of the EcoVadis rating; the fact that the company has repurposed 67 percent of all its waste products through recycling, reuse and recovery; its receipt of IATF certification for its manufacturing sites; and obtaining a $750 million loan that is linked to sustainability.

Birla Carbon provides carbon black solutions for paints and coatings, inks and toners, plastics, adhesives, sealants, textile fibers, mechanical rubber goods and tires.

Birla has a presence in 12 countries, with its North American headquarters in Marietta, Ga.