Siam City Cement adds water management to Sustainability Roadmap, Thailand
Thailand's second-largest producer Siam City Cement (SCCC) is to add water management and conservation to its Sustainable Development Roadmap and plans to spend THB58.7m (US$2m) on water conservation and related activities from 2012-18.
The company's cement operations in Saraburi have been self-dependent in water supplies without drawing water from public sources. Managing director, Philippe Arto, told the Bangkok Post: “In Saraburi province, we pumped water from underground, but now we consider it a resource in the same way we consider coal and electricity resources that should be used efficiently," he said.
The company plans to reduce water consumption at its Saraburi plant this year by 10 per cent from last year's level of 3.1Mm3. SCCC has installed measuring devices so that the know how much water they consumed. Last year, it began building a reservoir in Saraburi with a capacity of 700,000m3 to collect rainwater and pump it back into the plant. When the reservoir is completed in 2015, it will reduce water consumption by 1Mm3.
The comapany is it is finalising a study to build a pipeline to connect the plant with the Pasak River, which is 10km away, for water use.
"As far as SCCC is concerned, there is a potential risk of a water shortage for its operation in the long term if the company does not come up with effective measures to address the issue," said Mr Arto.
SCCC's Sustainable Development roadmap was launched three years ago covering five key objectives: CO2 emission reduction, stakeholders' engagement, community involvement and development, zero waste to landfill, and green products and services. With a specific net CO2 emission target of 660kg/t by 2020, SCCC last year reduced the figure to 680kg from 697kg in 2011.
The company has set a goal for green products to comprise 40 per cent of net sales volume by next year. By the end of last year, the figure was about 30 per cent.
Next year the target will be air quality, and SCCC is studying what can be done to control emissions, Arto added.
