Apollo Tyres commits to 2050 carbon neutrality

Gurugram, India – Apollo Tyres Ltd has made a series of commitments to advance the sustainability of its operations and products over the coming decades.

The Indian tire maker has pledged to be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2050, initially targeting to improve its scope-1 and scope-2 emissions intensity by 25% by 2026 against baseline year of 2020.

Furthermore, the company aims to increase the share of renewable power across its total power consumption to 25% by 2026, said a company release issued 20 Dec.

As part of the pledge, Apollo said it aimed to increase the use of sustainable raw materials in its products to 40% by 2030.

The profile of sustainable materials, said Apollo, will be 30% biomaterials and 10% recyclate.

To achieve these targets, the company is investing in R&D and manufacturing and conducting life cycle assessments of its products.

The tire maker also intends to improve water-withdrawal intensity by 25% by 2026 against baseline year of 2019 and improve diversity and inclusion to 12% globally by 2026.

“With an aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2050, we are working towards creating climate-resilient operations,” said vice chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar.

According to Kanwar, Apollo has created “dedicated teams” and made investments in energy-saving initiatives to advance the decarbonisation ambitions.

Apollo said it already had systems in place to monitor and analyse its greenhouse gas emissions and reported them annually in its sustainability disclosures.

The company has also undergone climate risk assessment and formulated strategies and action plans based on the results of the assessment.

According to Apollo, the company’s Andhra Pradesh facility in India is currently running completely on biomass and its Chennai plant has invested significantly in solar power.

At an overall organisation level, nearly 10% of Apollo's power requirement in fiscal year 2022 was met by renewable sources, and the company aims to increase this to 25% by 2026.

In terms of water preservation, Apollo said it had taken “several steps” to ensure reuse and recycling of water.

"The company monitors the specific water withdrawn per tonne of product and has a roadmap to reduce it over a period," it concluded.