Kamil Majczak, the President of the Management Board of Polish chemical company Ciech, presented the group’s sustainability goals at the World Soda Ash Conference in Athens, Greece.
At the conference, several hundred participants discussed the demand for soda and its role in the ongoing energy transition.
Ciech is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its production processes, mainly for soda ash, and achieving climate neutrality in its business operations by 2040.
Mr Majczak said the group aims to utilise sustainable energy sources in its production processes, including biomass, solar and wind energy, waste, nuclear and, in the future, hydrogen-based energy.
Currently, Ciech is collaborating with an external partner to construct a thermal waste processing facility in Inowrocław, Poland, aimed at reducing coal consumption, and concurrently, preparing for the integration of biomass.
Another element in reducing the carbon footprint is the improvement of the soda production process itself, which has remained largely unchanged since the mid-19th century.
This includes proprietary R&D solutions in areas such as the capture of CO2, resource conservation, production process automation and digitisation.
Together with international scientific institutions, the Ciech Group is working on the development of an entirely new soda production method that aims to achieve a negative CO2 balance in the technological process.
These developments will help Ciech achieve its goal of reducing its CO2 emissions by 63% by 2033 (compared to 2019).
The commitment aligns with the declaration submitted as part of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which the group joined in 2021.
