Read about Birla Carbon’s response to the COVID‑19 pandemic

Bending towards circularity

Our contribution

Circular thinking is as important to us as our customers. Although a completely closed loop may not be possible for carbon black, there are areas where we are moving in the direction of circularity. We have aligned with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to assess the circularity of our business by utilizing their Circulytics tool. In 2020, we received our first ever score and feedback from the Circulytics Method to measure our circularity against their three guiding principles:

Design out waste and pollution
Keep products and material in use
Regenerate natural systems

Circularity in our carbon black life cycle

Research and development

We consider research and development at every step of our operations, investing in innovative processes to reduce material use and waste every day
We are expanding our offering with partnerships, creating renewable nanocellulose with GranBio and multi-functional nanomaterials with CHASM
We are working to identify uses for the carbonaceous material recovered from tires after their useful life

Procurement

Raw material

Our process gives someone else’s waste a second life

Production

Energy recovery

75% of our plants are net energy positive

Water harvesting and reuse

100% of our sites used recycled process water and/or rainwater in their operations

Waste reduction and repurposing

We repurposed 60% of our material waste in FY2020

Product use

Product end-of-life

FY2020 key highlights

Birla Carbon became the first carbon black multinational to receive IATF certification across all its manufacturing plants.
Product quality
We were awarded a Gold rating by EcoVadis for the fourth consecutive year.
Global recognition
All of our 9,000+ suppliers screened using NAVEX Global’s RiskRate^® due diligence system.
Supplier management
Following the COVID‑19 outbreak, we leveraged our global geographical footprint to ensure employees have access to personal protective equipment.
Health and safety
Thanks to our existing IT Business Continuity Plan, we were able to quickly transition to remote working following the outbreak of COVID‑19.
Governance
87 ideas were submitted by employees to our first Hype Open Innovation campaign to help develop our business and products.
Employee engagement

Sustainable Operational Excellence

Sustainable Operational Excellence (SOE) is our sustainability strategy. It is behind every decision we make, from product design to supporting our communities.

Our Approach

Our targets and progress

To keep us on track to achieve our sustainability goals, we have developed a range of key performance indicators (KPIs). These KPIs allow us to see how we are progressing against our targets for FY2030.

Targets and progress

Sustainable Development Goals

We first mapped the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to our business strategy in FY2016. Today, they guide our efforts in three key areas: economy, society and environment.

Sustainable Development Goals

A word from our CEO

Our CEO, Dr. Santrupt B. Misra, discusses Birla Carbon’s progress, successes and plan for the future.

Leadership message

Share the Strength

With over a century’s worth of expertise in carbon black, we work to share our knowledge with our customers, employees and communities to increase value for everyone. From this desire comes our Purpose, Share the Strength and the five Purpose Principles that guide our efforts.

Focusing on what matters