Infosys workforce increases 166% in 10 years but electricity consumption only 20%

Firms are working to reduce their carbon footprint to move towards a zero-carbon future. In line with this, Infosys has incorporated several sustainability practices across its campuses related to renewable energy, optimisation of water, waste management and carbon footprint.

According to its 13th Annual Sustainability Report 2020, while Infosys' workforce grew by 166 per cent over the last 10 years, its electricity consumption grew by only 20 per cent. Infosys has over 2,42,000 plus employees globally.

The results are due to the IT firm's transformation to 'Live Enterprise'. In the report, Chief Operating Officer UB Pravin Rao says a corporate institution has to be "life-like, with the ability to respond intuitively to disruption and dynamic market changes, while evolving at enterprise scale."

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The report explains the concept: just as a living organism interacts and adapts to the changes in the world around it, likewise, a business needs to be aware, and respond to market disruptions and challenges on the ground. "In a world where change is the only thing constant, to be Live is not an accident," it says.

The company had earlier committed to procure 50 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy sources for all its offices across India. By 2020, it achieved 44.3 per cent of electricity from renewable sources.

Infosys achieved 63.75 per cent reduction in per capita freshwater consumption between fiscal 2008 and 2020 and 9.45 per cent reduction in per capita water consumption in 2020.

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The firm now treats all the organic waste including food and garden waste within its campuses. It also reduced the use of non-recyclable and single-use plastics by 91 per cent since 2018.

In its Business Responsibility report (part of its Annual report), it said, "We are recycling >10 per cent of our waste. Rigorous waste segregation at source, followed by appropriate treatment or disposal in adherence to applicable legislations, ensure that we send minimum waste to landfills. Organic waste (food waste and garden waste) is treated at in-house biogas/organic waste converters."

The report is prepared in accordance with the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Standards (Comprehensive) option.

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