GUJARAT – The Vilayat site of Indian viscose giant Birla Cellulose has achieved the stringent EU BAT Compliances. The development is in line with Birla Cellulose’s aim to apply the best available technologies (EU BAT) at all of its fibre manufacturing locations. Investments of US$170m are in progress to achieve this goal by the end of 2022, amid growing demand from brands for cleaner viscose fibre production.
EU BAT is widely regarded as best in class where clean viscose production is concerned.
Birla Cellulose’s Grasim Cellulosic division in Vilayat, India met the level of sulphur-to-air emission norms stipulated in the EU BAT references (EU Best Available Technologies BREFs) for the viscose manufacturing process.
Grasim Vilayat has installed state-of-the-art closed-loop technologies to recover and recycle CS2, which is the key raw material for viscose manufacturing process. With these technologies, the site is able to significantly reduce its emissions and achieve 90-95 per cent recovery in terms of sulphur and recycle it back to the process. In addition to this, the site also meets all other EU BAT parameters. This was confirmed by an audit conducted by Sustainable Textile Solutions, UK (STS) recently. The site also meets the ZDHC MMCF responsible viscose production standards.
“Adapting the best available technologies is an important milestone towards achieving global leadership in sustainable practices in the MMCF industry,” said Mr H K Agrawal, chief operating officer of Birla Cellulose.
“We are investing in innovation to continually improve our performance. This is the reason that our products come with sustainability credentials that are global benchmarks.”
Birla Cellulose has already achieved carbon neutrality in Scope 1 & 2 emissions by sequestration of carbon in its managed forests.
The business is also ranked #1 in Canopy’s Hot Button Report for its sustainable forestry practices and innovations in NextGen solutions.
Vilayat is one of Birla Cellulose’s flagship sites and post the ongoing expansion, it will be the world’s largest MMCF manufacturing site. The on-going expansion project at Vilayat site is also designed to comply with EU BAT requirements and designed to achieve low energy consumption.
