Chennai, Jan 4:

Chemplast Sanmar has taken a pioneering step to install an effluent treatment process that would help its plant at Mettur achieve the status of zero discharge of effluents.

The company has finalized an order with a US multi national Company that has a presence in India, for supply of an advanced reverse osmosis treatment plant, evaporator and crystalliser at an investment of Rs.26 crore. This is customized technology for zero-discharge of effluents and Chemplast Sanmar will be first in the country to apply this technology to the Chemical industry and achieve zero discharge of effluents.

For Chemplast Sanmar, this project will provide the added advantage of water conservation. The entire quantity of treated effluent water of around 2,000 kilolitres per day (KLI) arising in both PVC and chloro chemicals plants, will be fully recycled and reused in the process thus conserving precious water resource. Post implementation, the project involves an annual expenditure of Rs.4 crore towards power, treatment chemicals and consumables.

The project will be completed by October 2007 and would help Chemplast Sanmar stay well ahead of all statutory requirements across regions to bring its waste management standards to better than global levels.

Environment friendly membrane cell production of caustic soda.

Chemplast Sanmar is also investing of Rs.75 crore to convert the production process of caustic soda at its Mettur facility from a mercury cell based to a membrane cell based process. Though not statutorily warranted, the company has taken the initiative well ahead of time to implement this process which was likely to be completed by May, 2007. This project will bring about significant reduction in energy consumption to the tune of 930 Kw per ton of caustic soda produced. This initiative will involve recurring maintenance costs for the company as the membranes have to be intermittently replaced to maintain the efficiency of the plant.

Chemplast has invested over Rs 50 crore in the past four years towards environment management. The additional investment of Rs 100 crores for zero discharge of effluents and environment friendly membrane cell technology strongly reiterate Sanmar's stance as a responsible corporate citizen and will help the company surpass global standards in environment protection and waste management.
The Company has another Caustic Soda/ Chlorine plant at Karaikal in the Union Territory of Puducherry with a capacity of 52,000 tpa of caustic production. The effluent treatment and reverse osmosis process here are already at international standards. The company has also commissioned a seawater desalination plant at this location, thus eliminating its dependence on ground water.

Chemplast, the flagship company of the Sanmar Group has been in operation at Mettur for nearly seven decades. The Company provides direct and indirect employment to over 3,000 people and about 10,000 families benefit by the activities of the company and its downstream operations in the region. At Mettur the company has an integrated capacity to manufacture 64,000 tpa of PVC, 50,000 tpa of caustic soda and 35,000 tpa of chloromethane products.

The Company is also implementing a Greenfield 1,70,000 tpa PVC project at Cuddalore at an investment of Rs. 450 crore. To part fund this project, Chemplast's Board of Directors has approved subject to compliance with all related formations, the company raising equity resources on rights basis not exceeding Rs.200 crore (share capital and premium). The company is in the process of filing draft offer documents with SEBI.