Commitment to CO2-neutral production 

It´s in the news every day: Temperatures are constantly increasing; sea levels are rising, and glaciers are melting. Needless to say, these developments have a major impact on our lives. As CO2 emissions are one of the main drivers for climate change, LIXIL’s international fittings plants have committed to become CO2-neutral: Since 2020 all eight LIXIL fitting plants in Hemer, Lahr, Porta Westfalica (Germany), Albergaria (Portugal), Klaeng (Thailand), Jiangmen (China), Danang (Vietnam) and Monterrey (Mexico) as well as the German logistics centres of the GROHE brand are CO2-neutral. In 2021, the GROHE outbound logistics became CO2-neutral. All fittings plants and German distribution centers switched to green energy. To reduce the carbon footprint year by year, defined KPIs are to follow. 

The sanitary brand will offset so far unavoidable CO2 emissions through three compensation projects: two hydroelectric power stations in India and Vietnam as well as a borehole maintenance project in Malawi. These projects are based on extremely stringent criteria, such as the Gold Standard, developed under the aegis of the WWF.   

Hydropower for clean energy: Himachal Pradesh, India 

The project is located on the Satluj River between Karcham and Wangtoo in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. As a hydropower plant, the project uses the river’s natural flow to generate energy. Importantly, there is no reservoir in which the water is temporarily stored, and so the potential negative environmental impacts of water storage are avoided. In the underground turbine house, four Francis turbines are driven by the power of the river water before the water is returned to the riverbed below. All the power generated by the power plant is fed into the North Indian transmission grid and replaces conventionally generated electricity, which mainly comes from coal-fired power plants.

Restoring boreholes for clean water supply: Dowa & Kasungu, Malawi

In the project’s districts of Dowa and Kasungu in Malawi, around half of the population lives without access to clean drinking water. Part of the problem is that around one third of the existing boreholes can’t be used, due to wear and tear. Repairing damaged boreholes improves living conditions for the people who live there. In addition, the project also makes it possible to set up financing mechanisms to ensure the boreholes are maintained in the long-term by the villagers, thereby guaranteeing that they will be in a usable state for years to come. Most boreholes are operated by a hand pump. The pumped water is clean and can be consumed without additional treatment. This also reduces carbon emissions, since water would otherwise be purified using fuel to boil it.

Utilizing hydropower resources in Quang Nam Province

Located in Quang Nam Province, the project comprises the installation of a hydropower plant that involves two reservoirs with dams. The plant consists of two cascades which are located on the steep slopes of the Truong Son mountain range. The upper cascade has an installed generation capacity of 148MW. The lower cascade adds another 42MW of generation capacity. In combination, the two cascades of this hydropower project will produce 750+ GWh of clean electricity every year. The energy produced will then be delivered to the national power grid. By producing hydroelectricity, the project will increase the share of renewable energy in Vietnam. It will also help to bridge the mismatch between energy demand and supply. 

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