2022 Sasol Sustainability Report - Book - Page 33
SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUR FOCUS AREAS
INTRODUCTION
DATA AND ASSURANCE
GROWING SHARED VALUE (CONTINUED)
Community environmental programmes (continued)
PERFORMANCE
South Africa
Mozambique
North America
• In Sasolburg and Secunda, over 230 people have benefited
from jobs emanating from the environmental programmes.
• In Secunda, the Envirowaste programme has created
employment, removed illegal dumps and implemented a food
garden programme in open communal spaces and individual
communal homes. Up to 12 000 households have received
education, training and support in terms of environmental
awareness and food security which has resulted in a number
of households establishing food gardens in their homes.
• The Inhassoro water system is a project conceived to supply potable water for
communities in and around Inhassoro, reaching more than 15 000 households initially
and more than 30 000 households on the project horizon. This project is a response
to government’s plan to increase access to clean water for the District of Inhassoro.
The project was built in two years and was handed over to the Mozambique Head of
State. More than 500 households have been connected to the system and are enjoying
clean water consumption. In his speech at the handover, the president praised Sasol
for contributing to the community, in addition to its tax obligations to the country.
The Inhassoro community vowed to make the best use of the system.
• The Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, lost 90% of
its trees because of Hurricane Laura in 2020. Sasol funded the
purchasing of native trees to aid in replanting efforts for the park.
• In Secunda, we continue to capacitate environmental NGOs in
the Govan Mbeki Municipality area to do their work effectively
and support them in the implementation of local programmes.
• To date, international development agency SNV has maintained and upgraded eight
water systems and 74 boreholes on behalf of Sasol; 10 new boreholes have been built
and 12 new systems are under currently under construction.
• As part of the city of Lake Charles’ ReTreeLC program, Sasol
funded new master plans for both Tuten and Riverside parks.
The plans prioritise green infrastructure, which uses plants,
soils and natural processes to manage stormwater.
ENVIROWASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME IN THE COMMUNITIES WHERE WE OPERATE
For the past few years Sasol has implemented several initiatives targeted at minimising the impact of our operations on the
environment. We partner with relevant government departments, communities and civil society groups to ensure sustainable
environmental protection. To promote environmental protection, we focus on implementing air quality and waste management
programmes in our fenceline communities.
Through this programme, Sasol has adopted a community-centric waste
management approach that incorporates waste collection, sorting and
recycling. Not only was the programme designed for waste management,
but to also combat socio-economic issues within our community by
providing skills development opportunities, providing food security
through the establishment of community vegetable gardens and
enterprise development of local businesses within the waste
management sector.
In the first phase, the programme rehabilitated most of the previously
identified dumping hotspots into food gardens as considerable
education and awareness was done in the community. More than
12 000 households, 20 schools and 10 orphanages benefited from the
food garden programme. Over 600 tons of waste is recycled through
the buyback centre.
The initiative has also created up to 80 direct jobs and 200 indirect jobs
and employment opportunities for the community at eMbalenhle and
Lebohang. Three local waste management start-ups have been adopted
by the programme and are being mentored to become sustainable
contributors to environmental protection efforts in the community.
Another feature of our waste management programme is the eMbalenhle
Swop Shop, which is a community development project started by the
Secunda Sasol Junior Engineers in 2013. The Swop Shop is aimed at
empowering youth to help themselves improve their situation through:
• Providing environmental education to local children by providing
them with a practical understanding of the value of waste; and
• Instilling understanding of recycling and caring for the environment.
For further detail on our plastic waste management initiatives refer to page 27.
SASOL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2022
32
CASE STUDIES
Our community waste management programme has a multifaceted
approach to address health, sanitation, socio-economic and overall
wellbeing of individuals in the community. The Envirowaste project is
a flagship integrated waste management programme piloted and
implemented in the Sasol fenceline community of eMbalenhle, Evander,
Kinross and Leandra. It is a collaboration between Sasol, Govan Mbeki
Municipality and community stakeholders aiming to holistically address
the waste leakage problem in the region. The programme is aimed at
ridding the community of illegal dumps through land rehabilitation and
waste management to generate more entrepreneurs in the environmental
space and grow the green economy. It seeks to take on a further step
to include proven technology to add value to otherwise ‘valueless’ waste
which would end up on landfills.