Cutting out waste

Cutting out waste

The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (hal) has recently initiated ecofriendly pilot projects at its Bangalore aircraft division, which will not only minimise waste, but will also help save huge sums of money. The projects include installation of a biogas plant and harvesting rainwater. The biogas plant, which is being set up with the help of the Gujarat-based Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Resources Institute, will consume 300 kilogrammes of canteen waste every day and produce 230 cylinders of biogas per annum. hal hopes to recover its investment of Rs four lakh within three years. The rainwater harvesting model will be constructed in the tool room hanger. Through this initiative, hal hopes to save 3,600,000 litres of water per year. Solar water heaters are also being fitted in the canteen, while solar lighting systems for the entire division are on the anvil.

hal's prime focus is to reduce waste at source -- it is much cheaper not to produce waste, than to tackle it. The projects are part of a cost-cutting initiative that started two years ago. The intial target was to reduce power consumption through measures like substituting smaller furnaces for larger ones. The endeavour saved Rs five lakh in a year.

Thus encouarged, waste minimisation circles (wmcs) were inaugurated in 13 shop floors and departments. Each wmc, comprising six to seven members, holds weekly brainstorming sessions. The suggestions are forwarded to a steering committee that selects viable proposals. The sessions have yielded plenty of innovative ideas. For instance, the Jaguar aircraft machine shop requires sawdust to clean the unit's oily floor. The sawdust was previously sourced from outside. Thanks to an employee's idea, the sawdust generated in the soft tooling department is now being used. About 250 bags of sawdust have been recycled to date, saving Rs 87,500. Other ecofriendly efforts include reusing dealwood boxes and crates containing supplies. Additionally, the scrap generated by machine shops is segregated and sent for recycling, saving Rs 1.5 lakhs. Some initiatives are simple: reducing electricity consumption by switching off lights and fans during breaks. Steps have also been taken to save paper: a kaizen (continuous improvement) corner was started in the computer department to print on both sides of a sheet. The division has also started using the A4 size of paper, instead of the 132 column one, leading to a 50 per cent reduction in the amount of paper used.

Through all the measures, hal expects to save more than Rs one crore in the next few years. Waste minimisation will even result in increased productivity and profitability, better working conditions, improved product quality and better compliance with environmental standards. For employees, incentives range from peer recognition to annual awards for the best performing units.