• Child Labour Policy
  Renuka does not employ any individual less than 18 years of age as stipulated by the National Labour Legislature;
• Working Hours Policy
  No employee works more than 8 hrs per day;
• Compensation
  Fair wages as stipulated by the Government paid to all employees;
• Safe and Hygienic Work Conditions
  In-line with BRC certification following worker safety measures practiced:
  
  Training programs on basic fire fighting and special fighting by the National Fire Brigade.
  
  Evacuation planning & conducting fire demonstrations/drills; dry powder fire extinguishers & air foam fire extinguishers installed.
  
  Pest Controlling – bio defense pest control mechanism where insect traps are installed using glue-boards.
  
  In-house Medical Facilities
  A qualified doctor visits all company-owned processing units and plantations weekly to provide medical treatment and advice to the employees and their families.
  
  Meal-Allowance + Refreshments
  In addition to providing the meal allowance during the night shift refreshments are also served.
  
  Employee Welfare
  Interest free loans, free health insurance and free transport are provided to eligible employees.  Further, special financial assistance provided during times of distress.
  
  Employee Training and Development
  Continuous training & development programmes are conducted for all positions of employees in the organization designed to an annual plan.
  
  Induction training is carried out among the new recruits covering the areas of organization’s mission, goal, best practices, and health / hygiene & safety rules.
  
  Further on the job training, informal training, classroom training are conducted to target employee specialization.  Intensive training programs are aimed at Total Quality & Safety Management, Total Productive maintenance and IT all of which help to update skills and techniques which in turn increase the productivity & quality of work. The main objective is to Increase productivity together with higher quality results in a greater levels of customer satisfaction.

Regenwater Voorziening

Coconut palms require for satisfactorily performance regular supply of water. Long dry spells are harmful to both vegetative growth as well as coconut production. Coconut palm has no storage to meet its requirement and therefore the root system must continuously absorb water from the surrounding soil. The greatest concentration of coconut roots is in the top meter of the soils and within a radius of about 2 meter from the base of the stem. Maintenance of soil moisture always at the field capacity is therefore very vital.

Renuka coconut plantation receives an average annual rainfall 1,750 to 2,500 mm.  During the months of the dry season i.e. February, March, July and August lack of rain has adverse impact on coconut yields.  Further, it had been observed over the years in rainy seasons surface runoff water in sloping coconut areas of the plantation was naturally collected and flows out of the estate through lower areas forming water streams.  In these streams, water flow was seen only in rainy periods and they get dried up in dry periods.

Around 25% of rainwater received by the estate left the estate through these water streams.  It was realized that among various methods of storing of water, harvesting and conservation is the most common and economical method of storing of rain water in surface tanks.

With the construction of soil dams across these streams at different elevations with overflows, a large capacity of rainwater is being harvested in water reservoirs.  Rainwater thus collected in reservoirs at different elevation along the stream now leads to uplift the ground water table which in turn has benefited coconut production.  The ponds are used effectively as ideal water sources for irrigation during dry season.  This practice has ensured sustainable improvement of productivity and thereby increasing the harvests.

Duurzame Energie

To satisfy the demand for low-cost, onsite steam generation without further incurring technological, financial, and operational risks of the in-house boiler 2 Coconut Shell Boilers in operation now generate the total steam required for functioning of the entire Renuka Agri Foods plant.  The coconut shells collected at company’s hatcheting and paring stations are used as the energy source for steam generation.  This method of energy generation reduces emission of 4,400 tons of CO2 per annum and saving escalating cost of furnace oil.

As a result Renuka had contributed towards reduction in emissions including emissions of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.  This use of eco-friendly energy also provides environmental benefits in terms of stabilizing CO2 emissions, which would otherwise contribute to global warming.

Afvalwater

Residual Coconut Water Treatment
Coconut water obtained from organic coconuts is processed as coconut water vinegar while conventional coconut water is treated through an Anaerobic Digester process ensuring an eco-friendly disposal of waste water.  This is simple to operate and has low capital and maintenance cost.  The bio-gas generated in this process is used to heat water for cleaning purposes.

Coconut water contains around 0.05% oil.  The oil and water separation is done in concrete tanks using gravity separation prior to the disposal of wastewater - no pumps or electrical power required to run this waste water treatment system.

The oil is obtained by heating the sludge and waste kernel pieces removed from separation tank.  This low grade oil is sold for lubricating purposes since it cannot be used as edible oil.  It is widely used to produce bio-fuels.

Waste Water Recycling
Previously water discharged from the empty can washers and retorts were directed to the effluent.  Water discharged from the empty can washer was tested and found to be free from microbiological contamination.  Hence it was decided to direct this water to the filled can washer.

The effluent plant is designed to purify the discharged water from the factory as per Central Environmental Authority standards with a high capacity to hold 100,000 litres of water with 2500 Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and 5000 Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD).  Renuka Agrifoods has been able to discharge waste water in an environmentally friendly manner whilst achieving economic benefits by sales of separated oil.   It has also generated employment for four additional employees as plant operators.   The treated water is also used for gardening purposes of factory surroundings.

Renuka Organic Out-grower Program

Under Renuka Organic out-growers scheme over 90 hectares of organically cultivated coconut land has been certified.  Based on the prevailing farm-gate price these coconuts are bought by company appointed collectors.
These farm units are visited by our Agriculture Extension Officer who provides technical knowledge for better management of farm units under EEC and USDA-NOP organic regulations.
The farmers are paid a better price which is 25% and above the price of the going-rate of conventional coconuts.