Data: BRSR Data Indicates That Over 40% of Water is Discharged Without Treatment

As per the template provided for BRSR reporting, companies provide data on solid waste generation, disposal and also water withdrawal and discharge. Data indicates that the hazardous waste generated is less than 2% while disposal methods for the bulk of the solid waste remain unknown. Data also indicates that more than 40% of the water is discharged without treatment.

Environmental Sustainability has been a key priority area globally for many years now. In this era of climate change and the resulting environmental degradation, which worsens year after year, environmental sustainability stands as one of the indisputable core goals to be achieved. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contain numerous targets to be achieved by the signatory nations by 2030.

Our previous stories have highlighted (read here, here & here) that apart from the commonly understood degradation of air and water quality, the world is equally hit by the crucial issue of mounting Solid Waste (SW). Globally and nationally, the SW generation has already tipped off the carrying capacity of the earth, with poor levels of recycling and reuse. One of the negative consequences of SW also includes contaminating surface and groundwater. The Central Pollution Board (CPCB) in 2022 identified  311 Polluted River Stretches (PRS) on 279 rivers in 30 States/ UTs.

The data on SW and Water with regard to their Generation and Discharge by companies submitted as part of the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR)  is an important source of understanding this dimension. From the year 2021, The Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandated the top 1000 companies, listed by Market Capitalization each year, to provide their performance reports on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) aspects to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Methodology and notes

• Data is sourced from Dataful, which has a curated collection of BRSR data.
• It is to be noted that the data provided in these BRSR submissions is self-disclosed by the companies and not authenticated.
• The companies which have reported BRSR data did not follow any particular standard yearly format. While some companies reported data in the calendar year format i.e. from 01 January to 31 December of a particular year, other companies have reported in the financial year format i.e. from 01 April of a particular year to 31 March of next year. Whereas some other companies have provided the data from 1st October of the previous year to 30^th September of next year.

Because of these variations, for the purpose of analysis, we have taken each company’s data for one year, regardless of the months during which they were submitted. In the story, each year is referred to as a period which refers to a period of one year.

Average Solid Waste Generation per Company increases

As per the template provided for BRSR reporting to furnish waste generation data, the companies have to provide data about 6 types of SW. These include hazardous wastes such as Electronic Waste (E-Waste), Construction and Demolition Waste, Plastic Waste, Bio-Medical Waste, Battery Waste, Radioactive Waste, other Hazardous Waste, and other Non-hazardous waste.

During the period 2020-21, a total of about 170 companies have provided SW-related data. The total amounts of SW Generated, Recovered, and Disposed by these companies were 291529 66809, and 17976 thousand tonnes at an average of 1715, 393, and 106 thousand tonnes per company, respectively. During the same period, the percentage of SW recovered, and disposed to total SW generated was 23%, and 6%, respectively. By 2021-22, where 1151 companies have submitted data, the average SW generated, recovered, and disposed per company has decreased to 523, 266, and 52 thousand tonnes, respectively, with the percentage of SW recovered, and disposed to total SW generated at 51%, and 10%, respectively. However, by 2022-23, when 1270 companies submitted data, the average SW generated, recovered, and disposed of per company has again increased to 3746, 3561, and 174 thousand tonnes, respectively, with the percentage of SW recovered, and disposed to total SW generated at 95%, and 5%, respectively. In 2023-24, when 1217 companies provided data, the averages have further increased with the percentage of SW recovered, and disposed to total SW generated at 96%, and 4%, respectively.

Solid Waste Generated, Recovered, and Disposed (in thousand tonnes)

Over 99% of SW generated is Non-Hazardous Waste

Data from the BRSR submissions indicates that the total quantity of SW recovered has increased from 23% in 2020-21 to 96%. However, the analysis of different types of SW data shows that from 2020-21 to 2023-24, the ratio of hazardous waste to total waste generated has been about 1-2% with the rest of the SW generated being classified as non-hazardous waste. An increase in the recovery rates could possibly be because the bulk of the SW generated is non-hazardous waste.

Types of Solid Waste Generated (in thousand tonnes)

The SW recovery data is further categorized by types of recovery such as Recycling, Reuse and other types of Recovery. As per the data, the recycling rate has come down from 23% in 2020-21 to 1% in 2023-24. Conversely, reuse has increased from 75% to 98% during the same period.

Over 7 Crore Tonnes of SW is Landfilled

In terms of SW which is disposed of, the data is only categorized into 3 types, namely SW incinerated, SW landfilled, and SW which is disposed of by other types of disposal. From 2020-21 to 2023-24, the percentage of SW which is disposed under unclassified ‘other types of disposal’ has been between 80-91% of total waste disposed, while incineration figures during the same period remained at about 1%. The percentage of SW landfilled was 15%, 17%, 9%, and 19%, respectively, between 2020-21 and 2023-24. Cumulatively, the total quantity of SW disposed by landfilling during the same period was about 7.1 crore tonnes

Solid Waste Disposed – by Types (in thousand tonnes)

Over 40% of Water is discharged without Treatment

Water withdrawal and discharge data were also submitted by 170, 1151, 1270, and 1217 companies as part of the BRSR reporting from 2020-21 to 2023-24, respectively. The average water withdrawal per company varied each year with 52, 13, 36, and 16 billion litres of water withdrawn from 2020-21 to 2023-24 respectively. While average water discharge per company during 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2023-24 was 9, 10, and 10 billion litres, respectively, it was 16 billion litres during 2022-23. Out of these, the average water discharged without treatment per company was 4, 1, 7, and 9 billion litres during 2020-21 to 2023-24, respectively. The percentage of water discharged without treatment during the same period was 42%, 8%, 44%, and 44%, respectively.

Total Water Withdrawal and Discharge (in billion litres)

Over 90% of Water is discharged to Surface Water

The BRSR water discharge data is categorized by destinations to which the discharged water is sent, such as Ground Water, Surace Water (excluding sea water), Sea Water, Third Parties, and Others. The analysis of this data shows that in 2020-21, 19% of total water discharged was sent to groundwater. However, during 2021-22 to 2023-24, it remained around 1%. Surface Water (excluding sea water) discharge from 2020-21 to 2023-24 was 69%, 84%, 58%, and 52%, respectively, of the total water discharged during the same period. The Sea Water discharged during the same period was 9%, 14%, 41%, and 47%, respectively. Together, the percentage of Surface Water (excluding sea water) and Sea Water during 2020-21 to 2023-24 was 78%, 98%, 99%, and 99%, respectively, at an average of over 90% during each year.

Total Water Discharge – by Destination (in billion litres)

The BRSR reporting came into being with a review of the environmental performance of the top companies as one of the key goals. The data shows that over 90% of water is being discharged to surface water, including seawater, with about half of it being discharged even without treatment. Further, thousands of tonnes of SW are being landfilled each year, which is also known to contaminate water bodies, and which is only adding up to the overloaded carrying capacity of the earth. Data suggest for incorporation of serious measures, including measures like Zero Liquid Discharge.