How many of us can not sleep without an air conditioner at home? Or, how many of us drink cold water while travelling in the afternoon?
It was way back in the 19th century that scientists from all over the world noticed that ice in Antarctica melted after being present for decades. A portion of the ozone layer over the island got damaged. It resulted in unusual climatic changes. Typically, March, April, and May are the summer months; June, July, and August are the rainy months; and October, November, and December are the winter months.
Scientists have observed, however, that the whole system has changed. Besides droughts, floods, and cyclones, there are a lot of other natural disasters that occur, such as a heatwave.
This further impacts nature and the whole food ecosystem and affects human beings mentally and physically. The unusual effects on the health of plants and animals broke down the complete food ecosystem. The world woke up and thought about how they could save this plant from getting burned down by the heatwave of the sun, how to conserve the river and save ice from melting so that the sea level does not rise.
Hence, there is a need for an hour for us all to turn towards adopting sustainable and eco-friendly ways to save our future generations.
WayCool business model:
WayCool is India’s largest Agritech and Agricommerce company. It has adopted many sustainability initiatives across its various supply chains that are not harmful to the planet but also deliver profitability in terms of reduced costs and improved productivity.
It has adopted technology and merged them with physical and digital activities to create a phygital business model. The whole business process is automated based on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Waycool’s business model showcases excellent and effective utilisation of technology to earn money even by saving the planet.
List of Sustainability Initiatives Adopted by WayCool and their Tangible Impact-
Adapting the Solar Ecosystem at its Facilities.
Since the war has begun between Ukraine and Russia, there has been an extreme shortage of crude oil and coal. People talked about saving non-renewable energy resources like fossil fuels for our future generations during the last decade.
Considering this, WayCool has started to solarise its facilities one after the other to use these resources. One such example is the company that has installed solar panels for Chennai Distribution Centre on an Opex model.
Tangible impact-
The cost of power is reduced by at least 25% compared to a traditional grid power supply.
It helped the company to reduce carbon footprints across its multiple facilities.
There was a cost-saving of over Rs. 2,00,000 per annum in power bills just for one DC.
Installation of Water and Effluent Treatment Plant.
We know that 70% of the earth is water. But out of that only 10% of water is freshwater which we can use for our daily needs. Freshwater is available in the rivers and lakes. But in the past decade, we have faced acute water shortages. The rivers are contaminated because companies release their untreated and contaminated water into these reservoirs. It has led to water crises across the globe.
To save the reservoirs, WayCool has installed a water and effluent treatment plant at its facilities. Water used at their facilities is recycled almost seven times. The effluent treatment plant treats wastewater and makes it suitable to pump the water back into the ground through the garden or feed in their rainwater harvesting systems.
Tangible impact-
The company can avoid the usage of effluent treatment trucks or sewage trucks.
There was a cost-saving of over Rs. 40,000 on one sewage truck which equals cost savings for one warehouse.
It becomes possible for the company to have a payback period of less than one year in the effluent treatment plant.
The company pumps more water into the ground than what they uplift from the ground.
They are partnering with Local Farmers to reduce Distance and use Electric Vehicles for Short Distances.
Did you know that the carbon emissions generated by vehicles are very harmful to the climate? One of the top reasons for climate change is the high usage of petrol and diesel-based vehicles.
To reduce harmful emissions, the company has started to use electric vehicles for transportation. The company ran an experiment on reducing the Food Miles of vegetables like lettuce and broccoli. Banglore is a city where the consumption of exotic vegetables happens on a large scale. These vegetables are grown in Nilgiri hills, 360 km far from Bangalore. The company has partnered with the local farmers in the city’s vicinity, where the climatic conditions are suitable for growing these vegetables.
Tangible Impact:
The company succeeded in reducing food miles from 360 km to 2 km.
It has not led to cost-saving in transportation but reduced CO2 emissions by;
Reducing transportation distance which enabled seamless movement in the food supply chain system and;
With the adoption of electric vehicles, the company is saving the environment.
Conclusion-
WayCool is very clear that whatever projects it undertakes do not cause harm to the environment. The company is ahead of the regulations related to ESG, and each project will be ROI driven. The best thing about the company is that they have an eco-friendly business model that is a need for the future. The company aims to help farmers by the effective use of technology and provide last mobility solutions that come under the food supply chain.
This company works on the OPEX model, a high ROI business model. It saves a lot of money on fixed assets which makes it profitable. To sum it up, though many businesses nowadays have shifted to adopt ESG standards, this company is in the position of high economies of scale.
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