CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE HUMAN TOUCH OF CHEMISTRY

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INTRODUCTION: Corporate social responsibility(CSR)  is a concept whereby organizations voluntarily take steps to improve the quality of life of employees and their families as well as of the local community and the society at large .An essential component of CSR is to see to the welfare of the community .The corporate giants  endeavor  to make a positive contribution to the underprivileged communities, by supporting a wide range of socio-economic, educational and health initiatives .CSR can be defined as , the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. CSR at its simplest is treating its stakeholders in a socially responsible way. Since shareholders and environment are also stakeholders, then CSR must address economic and environmental concerns as well social ones. Stakeholders exist both within a firm and outside it. The aim of social responsibility is to create higher and higher standards of living, while preserving   the profitability of the corporation. This social responsibility has also been referred to as an obligation, a liability, social consciousness, corporate legitimacy, charitable contributions, dogoodism; managerial enlightenment .Firms can help local community and society at large in a variety of ways. For instance it can employ more people from surrounding areas than from distant places. it can also provide needed assistance to government's programmes of poverty alleviation, rural and urban development, housing, education, health, agiculture, family planning, environmental upgradation, forestry and so on. This was the view of Michael Hopkins in "The Planetary Bargain". In his book "Corporate Social Responsibility", Jerry .W. Anderson, brings the newly emphasized   area of   social concern and   responsibility into clear focus. It   describes   the interrelation between   business, society and   social responsibility and how they are interrelated. In Corporate Social Development-A Paradigm shift, by   Debasis   Bhattacharya, the recent trend of growing shift of corporate involvement in social development has been revealed. CSR is a public movement, which has gained momentum as citizens demand corporations to be accountable for their impacts .Consumers, investors, and employees alike are recognizing the power held by corporations and efforts are being made on several levels to create to create global change with the hope that the earth will become a better place .CSR is essentially promoting two main business concepts-transparency and social accountability. It has been said that companies that   improve their human rights and environmentalpractices become better and more sustainable, resulting in greater profitability.

                                                                                                                                   

THE THEME :Corporate Social Responsibility is inbuilt in chemical industries or even in the chemical division of  corporate industries .The human touch of  chemistry  is sustainability which implies that the main focus of  chemical engineering  is  aimed at  social and economic sustainable development and welfare . Like all chemical industries Tata Chemicals have introduced this concept long before by adaptation of water harvesting, soil reclamation, wasteland development programme, waste management, effluent management etc. to develop over all environment quality of the factory site, in and around. In public perception chemical business is perceived to be a predatory one. This generalization however can never be applied to chemical industries. At Tata Chemicals it is believed that CHEMISTRY & CARE go hand in hand. In fact Chemical industries rely and make use of ‘CHEMISTRY WITH A CONSCIENCE'. Corporate philosophy is deep rooted in principles of sustainability. It recognizes that sustainability encompasses environmental stewardship, adding economic value, promoting human rights and building social capital. The TATA CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES in Mithapur in Saurashtra is opening new doors for the rural communities residing around its chemical complex. TATA CHEMICALS SOCIETY FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (TCSRD) brings better knowledge to the community about new ethods of agriculture, like water harvesting programme, better management of land through soil conservation, soil reclam- ation, manuring, afforestation, and wasteland development programme. The advantages of using vermiculture and biotechnology are also being considered.

  Waste   Management is the  collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials produced by human activity and is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, environment or aesthetics. So it is an important tool almost in all industries and especially in chemical industries to improve the quality of environment. Waste Managementby chemical industries or chemical departments of corporate industries contributes greatly to corporate social responsibility. Waste Management is also carried out to recover resources from it. Waste Management involves management of solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances. Most (85%) of the solid waste generated from steel works is recycled or reused in own processes or sold as input materials to other industries. Tata Steel generates 659 kg of solid wastes (excluding fly ash) for every one ton of crude steel produced. Eighteen percent of solid waste generated amounting to approx. 5, 50,000 tons in 2003-04 was used to fill low lying areas and for peripheral road construction around Jamshedpur. About 2,00,000 tones of fly ash and  bottom ash, generated in the power plant was dumped in a designated dump area. TATA STEEL takes the problem of solid waste management as a business opportunity to improve the economic and environmental performance of the organization. The sources said ‘Reduce, re-use, and recycle practices have improved profitability of companies worldwide'. It has defined various areas like waste disposal, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, and soil erosion as threats to environment. It is also committed to provide a safe work   place and clear environment to all its employees and other stake holders as an integral   part of its business philosophy and values.

 ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT: The Steel making process is always associated with emissionof carbon di oxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, sulfurated hydrogen, water vapour etc. Those are the primary source of environmental pollution resulting global warming. TATA STEEL has got a well set pollution control measure to maintain the statute for Air Quality atJamshedpur Steel factory to reduce Green house effect and warming of earth.: Where do the greenhouse gases come from? The fact that they come from economic activities that are so pervasive to human society largely explains why global warming control is so complicated and so controversial. CO2 is emitted from the burning of fossil fuels, so that most electricity production and most industrial activity contribute to global warming. Since gasoline, kerosene, and diesel are fossil fuels, they too contribute, which means that the entire transport sector is implicated. Methane is also emitted from fossil fuel burning, but also from gas pipeline leaks and from decomposing vegetation. Methane emissions are therefore associated with livestock and with rice growing. Nitrous oxide comes from fossil burning and fertilizers. The burning of forests also contributes significantly to CO2 emissions.Greenhouse Gases are one of the major constituents for environment pollution .Of  the  six  Greenhouse  Gases , Carbon Dioxide is of  most relevance to  the  Steel  Industry . Considerable reduction has been effected by Tata Steel in the carbon dioxide emission rate, as is evident when the credit for slag granulation is taken into account. Other   Greenhouse Gas emissions do not result from TATA STEEL. It makes sulphuric acid from coke oven gas by desulphurization process and has proved to be capable of reducing sulphur dioxide emissions. Hydrogen sulphide is separated from coke oven gas and then it is converted into sulphuric acid. Tata Steel treats 130,000 cum of coke oven gas per hour , thus not only reducing emissions and  producing  18,800  tons of  concentrated sulphuric acid (98%) as well as 43,860 tons of steam (5.2 MPa) every year. Methanol is also produced from coke oven gas with the world's leading gas conversion technology. Intellectual property rights are used in methanol production. The process technology possess the features of a simple process flow, little investment, high production efficiency, high product added value, energyconservation, environmental friendly, convenient operation and good economic performance.: Global Warming, is a term denoting the accelerated warming of the Earth's surface due to anthropogenic (human activity-related) releases of greenhouse gases due to industrial activity and deforestation.: The greenhouse effect refers to the way in which gases in the Earth's atmosphere warm the Earth like the glass roof of a greenhouse by letting sunlight in but keeping the reflected heat energy trapped inside. These naturally occurring gases, notably carbon dioxide and water vapour, are called greenhouse gases.Apart from this water  from  steel making  process is being treated with best available physio-chemical methods  as well as  being  recycled . Waste water from the coke plant is treated biologically where organic pollutants are oxidized and decomposed by micro organisms. The company has reduced the levels of total pollutant discharge in waste water streams from 0.211 in 1999-2000 to 0.178 in 2003-04. Thus effluent management is effectively done by TATA STEELGreenhouse Gases are one of the major constituents for environment pollution .Of  the  six  Greenhouse  Gases , Carbon Dioxide is of  most relevance to  the  Steel  Industry . Considerable reduction has been effected by Tata Steel in the carbon dioxide emission rate, as is evident when the credit for slag granulation is taken into account. Other   Greenhouse Gas emissions do not result from TATA STEEL. It makes sulphuric acid from coke oven gas by desulphurization process and has proved to be capable of reducing sulphur dioxide emissions. Hydrogen sulphide is separated from coke oven gas and then it is converted into sulphuric acid. Tata Steel treats 130,000 cum of coke oven gas per hour , thus not only reducing emissions and  producing  18,800  tons of  concentrated sulphuric acid (98%) as well as 43,860 tons of steam (5.2 MPa) every year. Methanol is also produced from coke oven gas with the world's leading gas conversion technology. Intellectual property rights are used in methanol production. The process technology possess the features of a simple process flow, little investment, high production efficiency, high product added value, energyconservation, environmental friendly, convenient operation and good economic performance.

CONCLUSION  : Environmental  pollution  takes  place  through  changes  in  energy  patterns , radiation  levels  , chemical  and  physical  constitutions and  abundance of  organisms. Pollution befouls  the  air  and  poisons  fish  and  other   aquatic  animals  in  rivers and  lakes. It can cause extreme damage to the health of human beings, plants and animals. ‘The threats of pollution are real. Their economic consequences are real. Their   health consequences are real. There are sufficient data to make strong cases based on   facts'. Unless otherwise checked, pollution could make the whole planet uninhabitable. Rapid  industrialization  results  in  deterioration  of  the  quality  of  air , water  and  soil  pollution. All forms of industrial wastes should be properly treated as an essential    component of CORPORATE SOCIAL REPONSIBILITY OF EACH AND  EVERY  INDUSTRY , or recycled , or reused to save the  environment. CSR is thus innate  in  chemical industries as they perform the Herculean task of waste  management and  therefore  are  leaders and pathfinders where  the  question of  pollution comes in, and  thus  are in a  way  saviors of  this  endangered  MOTHER  EARTH .

                                                                            
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