2022 Sasol Sustainability Report - Book - Page 61
SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE AGAINST OUR FOCUS AREAS
INTRODUCTION
DATA AND ASSURANCE
MANAGING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT
Waste management
The waste footprint of each business differs depending on its feedstock and process
activities. As a result, each has its own tailored roadmap of programmes to implement
to meet legal requirements while adhering to waste management hierarchy principles.
OUR APPROACH
• We continue to explore ways to improve on waste management practices, notably in
implementing waste minimisation initiatives and alternative usage solutions.
• Most waste disposal practices have been discontinued and the legacy sites closed.
Rehabilitation of closed sites is either planned, underway or completed.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
Advancing the application of the
waste hierarchy
Minimise waste to landfill and drive waste
beneficiation opportunities.
SEO continued with its landfill avoidance drive,
with 29% of its hazardous waste recycled in 2022,
compared to 36% in 2021.
Reducing the operational cost of
waste streams
Finding and implementing technically viable
and cost effective solutions for some specific
waste streams.
SEO worked to find sustainable non-landfill
options for six waste streams that presented an
opportunity to be re-used. The re-use opportunity
is with third-party vendors who can substitute
their raw materials with the waste streams.
SEO has applied to DFFE to exclude the waste
stream use from the definition of waste.
Once approved, the waste streams can be
diverted to the third-party vendors.
Conservation of valuable natural resources
Ensuring third-party waste service providers
sustainably accommodate waste streams.
PERFORMANCE
API sludge management: Collaborative research
with a waste management company and SO
showed that API sludge could be bioremediated
to improve soil quality, in this way the
sludge can also substitute top soil which is
also a valuable natural resource. In 2022,
we bioremediated 16 kt of API sludge,
a decrease from 29 kt bioremediated in 2021.
Supporting ash beneficiation
Making ash available in line with
government expectations to support an
ash beneficiation sector.
SEO had a neutral to negative ash footprint
as we sold more legacy ash than the volume
we generated.
For SO, we evaluated several ash beneficiation
opportunities. The most promising are:
• aggregate applications;
• mine rehabilitation;
• artificial building panels; and
Waste kilotons (kt)
2022
2021
Hazardous waste generation
255
320
Non-hazardous waste generation
Total recycled waste
223
131
181
124
Increase
Decrease
• For the year under review the volume of hazardous waste generated decreased, the volume of
non-hazardous waste generated increased and the volumes of waste recycled increased.
• The decrease in hazardous waste and increase in non-hazardous waste reported can partly be
explained by SO reclassifying certain waste streams from hazardous to non-hazardous. The increase in
waste recycled is attributed to several OMEs implementing approaches to beneficiate waste through
third party service providers.
• The volume of hazardous waste sent for recycling was 60 kt or 24% of the total volume generated
of 255 kt.
• For non-hazardous waste a higher rate of recycling was achieved where 72 kt was sent for recycling,
or 32% of the total non-hazardous waste generated of 223 kt.
Sasol’s approach to waste management continues to evolve in response to changing legislation and
evolving industry practises. A key focus is continuing to find alternatives to landfill for our waste streams.
By collaborating with waste management service providers, we have established a number of
opportunities, some of which we have already implemented.
• cement kiln feed.
We are seeking additional external input to decide
which road construction applications using ash,
have the highest likelihood of success.
• Established a dedicated ash sales steering committee, which intends to engage with various
government departments and is developing a marketing plan to increase sales.
• Improved the handling of API sludge, by contracting service providers to bioremediate the
material. Before 2021, API sludge was disposed to landfill internally and – at times – externally
in line with regulations. The beneficiated material can be used in various beneficial applications,
thereby moving the material up the waste hierarchy.
SO
We continued to engage with third-party waste
vendors to reduce the risks associated with our
waste streams.
SASOL SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 2022
60