Wholistic approach to sustainability - initiatives by employees and communities
Waste management successes at Turbo Services Houston
Turbo Services Houston has improved waste management practices to align with Sulzer’s fourth pillar of sustainability: minimize the carbon footprint, enable a low-carbon society, and engage employees and communities.
Our waste recycle rate jumped from 44% in 2021 to 63% in 2022
Our waste recycling rate jumped from 44% in 2021 to 63% in 2022. We first evaluated all waste streams, including how waste was generated, separated and contained. We then determined if waste could be reduced, repurposed, recycled or sent for incineration.
Key for us was establishing relationships with local businesses and waste management providers that follow regulatory requirements and can reduce the waste we send to landfill. To vet vendors, we request transparency with licensing, permits, certificates of insurance and a clear explanation of services provided.
This ensures we follow local, state, and federal regulations with the potential to expand services to other sites. We have encouraged employees to keep waste streams separate and to increase recycling efforts by providing more education and resources. All of this has helped us establish a waste management program that is more sustainable.
Sulzer BioFlux technology: “from fat to renewable fuel”
In 2022 two contracts were awarded to Sulzer Chemtech for BioFlux technology in our Asian-Pacific region. This technology processes pretreated fats, oils and greases with dissolved hydrogen and catalytic isomerization to create renewable diesel or synthetic aviation fuels. This drop-in fuel has no blending limitations, a key advantage in powering multiple vehicles.
The Sulzer technology provides a less capital-intensive process, lower operating costs and improved efficiency: the hydrogen consumption is reduced by 50% to 75%. This reduction in hydrogen usage combined with higher product yields results in a plant savings of 130 kt/a CO2e for production of 500 kt/a (10’000 barrels per day).
With Sulzer-licensed technology, Energy Absolute, one of Thailand’s biggest renewable energy companies, will produce high-quality renewable diesel or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to supply North American and European markets and expand its portfolio to include sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This will open up new growth opportunities. In addition, Vandelay Ventures Sdn Bhd will build a world-scale production facility in Malaysia to power the world with its 250’000 metric tons (t) per year of renewable fuels (SAF and renewable diesel) while maintaining low emissions.
Volunteering for a cleaner world
Coordinating efforts with those of others by registering them with the relevant organizations was very important to us – it ensures that the activity has maximum impact. The great support from our management team was also key, with employees being able to record their volunteering as work time.
Sadaf Saremi
ESH manager and one of the organizers of the clean-up
The team aligned their activity with the World Clean-up Day organization and registered their clean-up with the Swedish Institute for Marine Research at the University of Gothenburg. The West Coast Trust, a collaboration partner of the institute, sponsored gloves and trash bags made from recycled plastic. These items were recycled again after the clean-up.
About 30 Nordic Water employees gathered on June 20 at Stora Amundön natural park, collecting all types of waste – from discarded plastic cups to cigarette butts and abandoned fishing nets. A fun quiz game complemented the clean-up activity, offering educational insights through friendly competition. Participants enjoyed a company-sponsored barbecue and the opportunity to interact informally.
The clean-up was a fantastic experience. We were divided into teams and competed to see which group could collect the most waste from the beach and woods at Stora Amundön. I felt very proud to see the beautiful natural park free from any pollution after our clean-up.
Nancy Yang
Application and Process Specialist and a clean-up participant