Striving to advance systematically on the path of sustainable development, Welspun, a global leader in home solutions, is making a mark with its holistic Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) approach towards well-being of all the stakeholders
Cognisant of the adverse impact of climate change occurring worldwide, Welspun Living Limited (WLL) has been striving to advance systematically on the path of sustainable development. As part of this endeavour, WLL, a global leader in home solutions, has chosen to adopt a holistic Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) approach with an aim to propel well-being of all their stakeholders at each stage of their operations.
On the road to achieve this goal, WLL has been actively collaborating and engaging with numerous national and international agencies, aligning with guidelines such as the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature rise to below 2°C, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) for 2030. The company also adheres to the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and has integrated its guidelines in its overarching climate change mitigation strategy. One of its primary focus areas is to increase the share of green energy in its overall consumption mix. This has led the company to establish a 30 MW solar power plant at its Anjar facility. It has also entered into a long term PPA with a RE developer for supplying RE power for its Vapi facility. “We are advancing towards attaining 100 percent of our total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030. In 2021-22, we forged strategic partnerships with two reputable renewable energy developers, propelling us closer to our clean energy goals, and ensuring a steady supply of green power to our operations in Anjar and Vapi,” the company proudly states.
WLL has also been striving to conserve every drop of freshwater to make it accessible to communities struggling with water scarcity. At the Anjar facility, the company has implemented a sewage treatment plant (STP) that not only eliminates the need for freshwater intake in the manufacturing operations, but also collects sewage from nearby municipalities for responsible treatment, reuse, and discharge. This initiative serves multiple purposes within the climate strategy. The company’s pursuit of circularity (SPUN) has birthed ground breaking solutions that transform waste materials into invaluable products. Resource efficiency and waste reduction are guiding principles, helping the company achieve zero waste to landfill while fostering sustainable innovation.
In keeping with its commitment is to enhance consumer well-being and create a more intelligent and sustainable world, WLL prioritises the use of sustainable fibers - BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certified cotton, Organic, Recycled, beside producing organic cotton (non-GMO) through its sustainable farming projects. Committed to sourcing cotton exclusively from sustainable sources, the company’s dedicated initiative, “Wel-Krishi,” aims to educate the farmers on how to grow better produce, with the goal of achieving 100 percent sustainable raw material usage by 2030. The company has embarked on a roadmap to transform the textile industry with Wel-Trak 2.0, an upgrade to Wel-Trak®, the company’s patented end-to-end traceability technology introduced in 2018. The upgraded platform is designed to help the stakeholders – from retailers to farmers and manufacturers to suppliers, traders, certifying bodies, and end consumers – to track raw materials throughout the supply chain back to its origin.
“We aim to establish WLL as a pioneer in sustainable textiles. Guided by our ESG-centric approach and in alignment with the UN SDGs, WLL strives to implement optimal business practices across operations, mitigate risks while identifying potential opportunities, and safeguards stakeholder interests effectively,” the company states.
With a dedicated Board of Directors and an ESG and CSR committee of the board, the company ensures effective delegation and design of sustainability related measures.
The management or committee is responsible for implementing climate initiatives and accountable for strategy development and execution. Having set comprehensive emissions targets covering Scope 1, Scope 2 emissions, WLL’s targets are built on a well-defined baseline year FY2020, reflecting a specific percentage reduction in base year emissions.
WLL sustainability goals are:
Conducting life cycle analysis (LCA) for its products, enabling it to identify opportunities to minimise environmental impact across the entire value chain. The company has already made significant strides in using sustainable raw materials such as organic, BCI (Better Cotton Initiative) certified cotton, and recycled cotton, ensuring the responsible sourcing of inputs. To conserve water resources, it has adopted the practice of utilising recycled sewage water for manufacturing processes.
The commitment to ethical production is exemplified by the adherence to internationally recognised standards. Textile goods bearing the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certifications guarantee that they have been produced ethically. The company has been continuously striving to improve its processes and treatment systems to meet the stringent requirements of the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) standard, ensuring the responsible management of chemicals.
On the social front, WLL has launched various initiatives under its Corporate Social Values (CSV) programme focusing on improving the health and prosperity of our community, particularly children, women, and senior citizens. The impetus is on nurturing business relations that drive inclusive growth, women empowerment, safe & healthy workspaces and supporting community livelihood generation. The company is proud of the difference it is making in the society ,including the fact that 27 percent of its workforce are women.
The idea of sustainability is embedded in every sphere of WLL’s operations. Signalling its commitment to women empowerment, WLL has established 8 SPUN centres across Kutch, with more than 2200 trained women, so far impacting lives of 8860 people across the region. Impact of WLL’s Sustainability programme has been such that an Ivey case study on WLL’s transformation is part of the curriculum of several universities across the US, Canada, France, Europe, and Taiwan.
The result of all these efforts is evident as in 2023 the company achieved a notable score of 66/100 in S&P Global ESG score (DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) for 2023. The score is highest for any company from India in the Textile, Apparel & Luxury goods category. The company is also ranked 7th in the Global rankings in the S&P Global ESG ratings. The company also achieved a score of 11.3 on Sustainalytics’ ESG risk ratings, a significant improvement over its previous year score of 14.4. Sustainalytics, a leading independent ESG and corporate governance research, ratings, and analytics firm which evaluates companies across various industry sectors, assessed WIL’s performance in the Textile & Apparel category. Welspun India now ranks 9th out of 202 participants worldwide and is positioned in the “Low risk” category. It is the highest ranked Indian company amongst industry peers and thus it is an acknowledgment of WLL’s consistent push to adopt ESG as an important pillar of its business strategy.
Dipali Goenka, MD & CEO, Welspun Living Ltd said, “Our company’s initiatives towards the environment have only been growing with the company’s strengthening position both domestically & globally. We have also endeavoured to give back to the society and such achievements motivate the team even further to go the extra mile and think out-of-the-box for to conserve our environment.”