The Sasol Safety, Health and Environmental Centre has committed itself to greening its multi-national parent company and to contributing to safe environmental practice to the best of its ability.
The project was awarded a special commendation in the Greening the Future 2003 Awards, in the category for corporations and corporate foundations, because of its proactive stance towards gearing Sasol to becoming a green corporation.
The panel of judges said Sasol is ‘a company that is investing in innovation to demonstrate its commitment to changing the negative impacts of its operations. It is committed to international environmental standards and investment in cleaner production.”
But the judges noted that Sasol is ‘in a high-risk business when it comes to sustainability (risk to both shareholders and society) and like other high-risk businesses such as oil, gambling and alcohol, a high level of innovation, accountability and reporting is required. The company needs to ensure these risks are being managed.”
The judges also noted that Sasol has a history of insensitivity towards some of the communities affected by its business ‘which, at times, has made the company an appalling neighbour”.
Sasol received a special commendation because ‘it is taking steps to address the environmental impact of its business and is making a concerted effort to change the image of its past.
‘We look forward to seeing the company meeting the challenges of investing more in not only in reducing negative environmental impacts, but doing so in closer cooperation with affected communities,” said the judges. ‘We hope this award to Sasol will encourage other big corporations to play ball and inspire similar innovations from other companies.”
Sasol CEO Pieter Cox says: ‘As a global group with diversified fuel, mining and chemical manufacturing operations, sustainable development presents us with some significant challenges, such as climate change and environment protections.
‘We are committed to conducting our business with respect and care for people and the environment, the responsible utilisation of resources, complying with all applicable legal and other agreed requirements and promoting dialogue with stake-holders about safety, health and environmental performance.”
Pierre Loots, principal engineer for Sasol’s environmental centre, says the company has taken innovative and decisive steps to reduce consumption of natural resources.
‘We research, design and engineer new, more efficient processes and improve existing facilities. Better operational efficiencies are built through processes such as good management systems,” he says.
Sasol itself admits it still needs to work hard at greening its business, although it has excellent programmes in place. Its annual report states that air pollution in Sasolburg alone amounts to more than 37 800 metric tons of volatile organic compounds, 19 800 metric tons of hydrogen sulphide and 23 400 metric tons of sulphur dioxide a year.
‘We are committed to ensuring effective stewardship of the biosphere by reducing our non-product outputs, minimising the negative impacts of its products throughout their entire lifecycles,” Cox says.
Atmospheric emissions remain one of the biggest challenges facing the company. In its 2000-2002 Sustainable Development Report, Sasol says it has made satisfactory progress in continuing the downward trend with atmospheric emissions.
But despite the improvements, it is still disappointed about a number of environmental incidents, particularly those resulting in the release of chlorine and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Another concern for the company is that the sulphur dioxide emissions at the Natref plant in Sasolburg exceed the permit limit.
Other problems mentioned in the report include a general increase in the number of leaks, breaks and spills that negatively affect the environment, and the unsatisfactory comp-liance by Sasol Agri operations in Secunda with permit requirements for ammonium nitrate emissions.
‘Concrete steps have been taken and ongoing efforts are in place to minimise the future potential for such incidents,” says Cox.
‘For example, we accelerated our conceived plan to close down chorine production facilities in Umbogintwini, terminating operations in March 2001.”
At the Sasol Agri operations, the target for atmospheric emissions was set to ensure a compliance level of at least 95% against the permitted levels. Sasol was able to achieve this with fluoride, particulates and sulphur dioxide emissions at the Phalaborwa and Secunda plants. Ammonia emissions at the Secunda plant improved from a 74% comp-liance in 2001 to 82% last year.
‘The reduction of waste emissions, water usage and energy consumption relative to production remains an objective,” says Loots.
Sasol Synfuels recently completed a project to recover greater volumes of sulphur from the Secunda post-gasification streams. This has enabled the company to decrease hydrogen sulphide emissions and to sell additional volumes of sulphurs to customers.
‘We are also building an evaporator crystalliser plant to further reduce water consumption at Secunda,” adds Loots.
Sasol is also proud of its fuel, Sasol TurboDiesel, which has the lowest sulphur content of all South African diesels. The company is busy implementing sophisticated air-quality monitoring programmes in their Sasolburg and Secunda operations.
‘Ad hoc measurements of community exposure to hydro-carbons started three years ago, supplementing our internal occupational hygiene measurements that were being carried out for several years,” says Loots.
‘At all our measurement stations, levels of SO2, NO and ozone meet the relevant World Health Organisation [WHO] standards.”
Where the emissions exceed the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines for accepted chemical levels in the air, which are more stringent than those of the WHO, Sasol says this is due to domestic coalfires being burnt near the measuring stations.
Loots says the company is constantly on the lookout for new initiatives to ensure it stays green. Sasol is enthusiastic about its new Mozambican gas project, which it believes will bring both social and environmental benefits to those involved. The multinational’s $1,2-billion Sasol Natural Gas Project, to extract natural gas from a field near Vilanculos in Mozambique, will have to carefully balance the effects on the environment.
Sasol says its community outreach and its environmental management programmes are key success factors in its plan to pipe natural gas over 865km to Secunda.
The company has set aside $6-million to compensate anyone who would be negatively affected by the pipeline. Of this, $5-million is budgeted for use in Mozambique.
‘We are anticipating significant future reductions in atmospheric emissions once our Mozambican natural gas project is up and running,” Loots says.
But building new initiatives is not enough. The company is also involved in actively rehabilitating areas that have been spoilt by activities such as mining.
The mining division has a rehab- ilitation programme at its disused mines and the Agricultural Research Council has surveyed progress at the old mines. In their study the council found leafhoppers (a small plant bug) on the revegetated grasslands. The presence of the insect is considered to indicate successful rehabilitation.
Sasol has programmes in place to reduce water consumption in Secunda. The company approved R260-million in capital expenditure to construct and commission a new-generation evaporator crystalliser plant that will help it to further reduce consumption of raw river water by processing and recovering previously unusable mine-seepage water.
The company also sponsors worthy environmental projects. Each year it grants more than R13-million to environmental protection.
The Sasol Sensory Trail at Delta Park in Johannesburg, for instance, offers disabled people the oppor-tunity to experience nature.
The trail has been specifically designed to cater for young people with disabilities, to create holistic interaction with Gauteng’s flora and fauna and to give visitors insight into the concept of urban biodiversity.
The company has supported bird conservation projects for many years. It has helped to set up public bird-watching facilities countrywide and sponsors the training of bird-watching guides at Birdlife South Africa’s training centre at Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga.
The Sasol Vulture Study Group, run by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, monitors and re-establishes vulture populations in the Magaliesberg region of North West. The group has established several vulture ‘restaurants” and has already reintroduced about 600 vultures into the wild.
The Sasol Wild Dog Camp at the De Wildt research station near Brits in North West provides quarantine facilities for captive wild dogs and helps reintroduce these animals into nature.