CEO statement

Protecting the environment in which we live and operate is a global priority. It is incumbent upon all of us to take whatever action we can to reverse climate change, appropriately and responsibly manage natural resources, improve air and water quality, protect and restore nature and work towards a waste-free world. Together, we have to work with urgency to ensure that our planet is in significantly better shape by 2030 than it is today.

WE Soda has strong environmental and sustainability credentials, which are best-in-class across our industry and many comparable industries worldwide. We produce soda ash, which is an essential ingredient in many environmentally sustainable products including glass, lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles, and water and air purification. We manufacture soda ash in the most environmentally friendly way by extracting and processing naturally occurring trona ore using solution-extraction technology which has by far the lowest environmental impact in terms of energy intensity, GHG emissions, water usage and waste. 

Over the last decade, we have continuously improved our sustainability performance by optimising our production processes and technology, improving the efficiency of our global logistics network, effective recycling and reprocessing programs, and through systematic measurement and external verification to quantify and demonstrate our progress. Despite our leadership position today, we can and will do more. The challenges are complex but, alongside all our stakeholders, we are setting ourselves challenging targets. These will be achieved over the next 5 years through a series of ambitious plans to reduce emissions and waste, including continuous efficiency improvements within our production processes to lower energy usage, transporting more of our product within Turkey by rail, further optimising our ocean shipping by using fewer, larger vessels and global distribution hubs, and by using more power generated from renewable sources.

We measure and benchmark our performance, train and encourage our workforce, track and reduce our environmental impact and thereby continuously improve our results. Materiality Disclosures for each of our production sites are made in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) from carbon emissions to raw material consumption, production efficiency to waste management and more. Our participation in certification programmes provide third party assurance of our commitment to best practice.

We are committed to operating our business in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. We are aware of our impact on the communities in which we operate and we work with and invest into these communities to ensure a positive impact. We maintain the highest standards of health and safety, and we seek to ensure a diverse, inclusive and rewarding workplace for all our employees. We assess our progress in relation to the 10 fundamental principles of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals against which we align all our activities.

We are proud of what we have achieved and our commitment to be the best in everything we do, including environmental performance, sustainability and social responsibility. Visit Operating Responsibly for a summary of what we have so far achieved and what we plan to do. More information is also available in our Sustainability Reports which are available in our Information Library.

Alasdair Warren | Chief Executive Officer, WE Soda