We are a leader in corporate action and transparency on water stewardship
Apiculture
Supporting local beekeeping since 2018
Wildlife conservation
Protecting the Anatolian Ground Squirrel
Afforestation
Tree planting at Kazan
Biodiversity
Kazan Soda's Biodiversity Protection and Monitoring Project
Environmental KPIs
WE Soda has strong environmental and sustainability credentials, which are best-in-class across the soda ash industry.1For our full range of environmental performance indictors, you can read our 2022 Annual Report.
Water is an essential input to our production process, as well as being important to the local communities in which we operate.
Because climate change is expected to increase the pressure on water resources and increase the risk of water scarcity, it is important that we operate with a water stewardship strategy designed to protect and preserve the water resources of our communities and our operations.
During 2022, our total water intensity was approximately 2.04, less than one-quarter of the water intensity of synthetic soda ash producers.
Within the next five years we will reduce our water intensity by 20% relative to a 2022 baseline.
We are committed to increasing our renewable energy capacity and usage. It is a fundamental element of our sustainability strategy.
We have installed 7MW of PV solar generation capacity at our facilities which came on-stream during the first quarter of 2023, with a further 3MW planned by year end 2023.
At our Turkish operations we estimate that, by 2027 we can deliver 200MW of installed solar and wind capacity.
In 2022 we announced West Soda, which will be the first soda ash production facility globally to source all of its electrical power needs entirely from renewable sources.
Image: Solar array at Kazan Soda
Waste management
We approach waste with a circular mindset, this reduces the amount of waste our sites generate and opens additional revenue streams.
We take measures to recover, re-use or recycle the waste generated in our operations, reducing the amount of waste that we send for disposal.
Where possible, we aim to apply the principles of circular economy, for example:
Production of sodium bicarbonate using recycled CO₂
Reuse of purge in the production of caustic soda
Sale of fly ash for use in cement production
Refinement and sale of industrial salt
Sale of calcium carbonate for flue gas desulphurisation
In 2022 we recycled, reused and repurposed 1.1m tonnes of waste, and disposed of less than 0.1m tonnes of waste.
Our broader environmental commitments
Increasing and preserving biodiversity and improving air quality are the focus of several of our projects.
Biodiversity
In 2016, Kazan Soda initiated a project focusing on preserving biodiversity in the area surrounding our production plant. The project identified six endemic plans which required specific protection plans. To date, we have established a 10,000m2 conservation area and have started working with local schools to provide education on the importance of biodiversity and protecting endemic species.
Read more about Kazan Soda's Biodiversity Conservation and Monitoring Project:
We regularly sample and monitor the effects that our activities have on the environment. At Eti Soda, dust, CO, SO₂ and NO₂ parameters are constantly monitored. In 2022, we upgraded the dust removal system from the main stack of the processing plant, reducing dust emissions.
1 We determine our impact on nature and the environment in comparison to our peers through the assessment of our energy intensity of 4.44, Scope 1 & 2 CO₂e emissions intensity of 0.343, water intensity of 2.04, and total waste directed to disposal of 73,384 mt (in each case for 2022) as these metrics provide a relative and comparable measure of performance across our industry.
