By-Suresh Kumar R., Managing Director, Allcargo Terminals Limited and ESG Head – Allcargo Group
”World Environment Day serves as one more reminder of the interdependence between humankind and the environment. While raising awareness and offering a platform for collaboration to address environmental concerns, it also reiterates the importance of making conscious choices while keeping environmental sustainability at the core.
At Allcargo Group, we remain committed to our mission to chart sustainable pathways and our vision to achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2040. As a part of that goal, we are working on multiple fronts across the Group – adoption of renewable energy and alternative fuels and greener logistics practices. For instance, Allcargo Terminals’ (ATL) Chennai facility already runs on 70% renewable energy through solar rooftops and open access. Five of our seven ATL sites are solar energy-equipped, with capacity expansion under way. ATL has increased its fleet of electric forklifts from 10% to 25%, and ASCPL (Allcargo Supply Chain Private Limited) has transitioned to 100% electric material handling equipment across all warehouse facilities. Additionally, ASCPL has deployed sensor-based genset IoT systems to track and improve fuel efficiency.
As a part of our community upliftment and environmental stewardship initiative, we recently completed a rainwater harvesting, storage and ground water recharge project at Sawangi Tehsil in Nagpur to address the issue of water scarcity in that area, revitalise agricultural activities and rural economy. The project has positively impacted the livelihood of over four thousand people. This initiative is the latest in a series of long-term community development programs we are committed to.
This year’s theme ‘Putting an End to Plastic Pollution’ resonates with us as we are working towards reducing environmental impact by adopting sustainable alternatives. In June 2023, we declared our Mumbai headquarter Allcargo House completely plastic free. Single-use plastic items are now barred at Allcargo House and reusable cloth bags are made available on premises. We also undertake beach clean-up drives as part of our efforts to raise awareness on the adverse impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems.
Our efforts extend globally as well. The Allcargo Group’s global subsidiary ECU Worldwide has introduced Greenwayz, a sustainable shipping solution powered by biofuel in the Nordic region. We have plans to expand this initiative in a phased manner across key trade lanes. The ECU Worldwide office in Antwerp has been regularly participating in the Annual Port Clean-Up to remove plastics, discarded fishing nets and other debris that could endanger the marine environment.
Environment sustainability is a collective effort in which every supply chain stakeholder has a role to play. Going forward, we will sharpen our focus on integrating circular economy principles into our operations.”
