Crown Paints, the leading manufacturer, and distributor of paints in Kenya, has been at the forefront to ensure that its operations are friendly to the environment.
Banking on innovation, Crown Paints has been striving over the years to steer its brand by pioneering a world of possibilities to empower people and reduce environmental aspects across its factories.
As the world marks World Environment Day, Crown Paints has reaffirmed its commitment to environmental sustainability by implementing activities that not only keep the environment safe but also aim at conserving and preventing pollution.
“For many years, we have been working to operate more sustainably, and we continue to take steps to reduce negative environmental impact. We’re focusing on reducing energy use, carbon and VOC emissions, waste generation, and water intake, while increasing our use of renewable electricity and materials, and water reuse,” said Crown Paints Group CEO Dr. Rakesh Rao.
The company is aiming to move towards zero waste by the year 2031 through reusing all their waste as well as reusing water at all their most water-intensive sites. Crown has also laid down plans to focus on reducing waste generation in their manufacturing processes as part of their environmental management program.
“We are doing this by abiding by local legislation where the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) of 1999 is our framework law. We have also demonstrated our commitment to Environmental Management by being ISO 14001:2015 certified,” said Dr. Rao.
To conserve water, the company has been harvesting rainwater to supplement the already existing supply. All the Generated effluent from their manufacturing activities within the Crown factories is channeled to an on-site Effluent Treatment plant for processing & clean up and reused for internal cleaning activities & equipment.
“Sustainable water supply is essential to our business. We rely on water for, among others, paints and resins production, cooling, and cleaning; a significant number of our water-intensive sites already reuse water,” said Dr. Rao.
Knowing the importance of reusing water, the company treats an average of 4000 liters of water daily. The focus has been on recycling and reusing process water and driving a continuous reduction in freshwater intake and wastewater discharge.
The company plans to hit a 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and is focusing on cutting its energy consumption by 30 percent and using 100 percent renewable electricity as well as improving the energy efficiency of equipment and installations. Crown Paints has already installed solar-powered security lamps, LED lamps, solar water heaters and variable speed drives on major high power rated machines within the factory.
“In line with our Environment Policy, we are committed to providing quality products and services as we promote and embrace the principle of responsible stewardship of the natural environment”, said Dr. Rao.
