RAK Ceramics and the company have presented plans to address these impacts to ensure that the proposed project will upon implementation of the specific agreed measures, comply with the environmental and social requirements - the host country laws and regulations and the World Bank/IFC environment and social policies and the environmental, health and safety guidelines. The information about how these potential impacts will be addressed by the company/project is summarized in the paragraphs that follow.
Whenever RAK Ceramics has built a new production line or factory anywhere in the world, it replicates its current best practice while taking account of local conditions. The proposed new investment will be a green-field plant hence its design will closely match those of RAK’s recently-constructed plants in UAE and Bangladesh, and can therefore be expected to have high technical standards.
- Corporate Environmental, Social and Health and Safety Management.
- Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Management Systems.
It is the policy of RAK Ceramics that all its operations should comply with applicable local environmental and safety laws and IFC environmental and social policies and guidelines.
At IFC’s prompting, RAK Ceramics has developed a health, safety and environmental (HSE) management system for its Bangladesh factory, with the intention to seek certification of this management system to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards and ultimately to integrate HSE management with the quality management system. This work in Bangladesh will be replicated throughout RAK’s manufacturing sites with adaptation for local circumstances, and will be adopted in the proposed new investment in India. Recruitment of HSE management staff for UAE is underway.
- Social Issues
RAK Ceramics provides free accommodation and meals for its workers and their families, and partly as a result has a very low rate of staff turnover.
In countries where it operates, RAK’s operating companies have become involved in community activities. In Ras Al Khaimah it annually makes donations to local schools, hospitals, the office of civil defense and needy individuals such as the poor, disabled or old. RAK India will continue such practices on a selective basis.
The minimum age of all RAK Ceramics employees is 18 years.
- Land Acquisition
The land area occupied by the project will be approximately 825,000 m2. The company confirms that all land for its Indian factory has been acquired on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, taking due account of relevant IFC safeguard policies. Before its acquisition by RAK India, the land was uncultivated, un occupied and supported no economic activity. The nearest village is approximately 5 km from the plant site.
A national road passes the front (North) side of the site, and at the east is a rice and grain warehouse. Land to the West is uncultivated, while a railway is approximately 1 km South of the site.
- Emissions to Air and Water
Emissions to Air
Potential emissions to air are dust arising from manufacturing operations and products of combustion, drying and firing operations.
All raw materials will be stored in closed bins to minimize dust production. Centralized dust collection systems are provided for all process operations (e.g. ball mill, spray drier, press, glazing line) in which dust may arise. Solids collected in these systems are reused in the process.
It is not expected that air emissions from fired heaters will have any adverse environmental impacts for the following reasons:
- Fuel is sulphur free, therefore oxides of sulphur are not present in exhaust gases.
- Process fired heaters will use low NOx burners.
- Spray dryers will be equipped with cyclone separators and wet scrubbers.
Air emissions will be reduced by energy efficiency measures including:
- recovery of heat from the kiln exhaust to the pre-dryers;
- high standards of kiln insulation and use of lightweight kiln cars;
- consistently high kiln loading;
- variable speed fan drives;
- metering and active management of gas used in furnaces.
These techniques are used in UAE and give excellent levels of energy efficiency. The Indian plant will adopt similar technology and should also be highly efficient.
- Emissions to Water
Process effluent contains clay particles. All effluent will pass through a series of settling tanks with the resulting cleaned water reused in tile preparation. Settled clay will be collected periodically and sold for landfill of low lying areas.
Sanitary waste water will be pre-treated on site in a septic tank which will be emptied as required and residue treated at a municipal treatment station. Water use will be reduced by use of low water use appliances.
- Solid Waste
Solid waste comprises rejected fired wares, plaster molds and dust from pollution control devices. The volume of solid ceramic material waste is reduced by in-process recycling. Rejected materials from the casting section, dry ware inspection and glaze spraying will be used in preparation of sanitary ware bodies Excess glaze from the spraying section is collected, reprocessed and reused. Remaining solid waste material, which is inert, is sold for use in land filling of lowland areas.
- Hazardous Materials
RAK Ceramics has provided a list of all materials to be used in glaze and pigments. None of the materials to be used contains cadmium, lead or any other heavy metal.
Procedures for safe handling of chemicals have been developed at UAE and will be replicated to India. These will ensure that that chemicals are always unloaded and stored in appropriate hazardous materials stores.
- Fire Safety and Emergency Response.
Fired heaters are all provided by leading European manufacturers. Gas control systems, and the kiln, furnace and dryer lighting procedures will meet worldwide best practice standards.
Other than fuel, the only inflammable materials used in the process are paper packaging cartons. Fire extinguishers and buckets of sand will be provided in the packaging area and elsewhere. A fire alarm system will be installed, and firefighting stations, supplied by electric and engine-powered pumps, will be installed throughout the factory. The fire-fighting systems will be tested regularly and fire fighting stations and emergency exits clearly marked.
Emergency response plans have been developed for other RAK sites and these, adapted for local circumstances will be used as models for the India factory.
