AAK sustainability report 2018

AAK had a global objective for 2018 to achieve less than 1.5 percent of its waste being sent to landfill. Making a vital contribution to this goal, AAK Brazil became a zero waste company in September 2018 through an innovative new initiative known as ”Coprocessing”. Since 2016, AAK Brazil has endeavored to reduce the amount of waste it sends to the municipal landfill. However, over the last year, the site went much further – instead of simply reducing the waste, it found a way to dispose of it completely. As a result, AAK Brazil officially became a zero waste company in September 2018, setting a standard for all AAK sites to follow. Making waste useful Until recently, even following various initiatives to reduce waste, AAK Brazil still shipped on average 3 MT a month of waste to landfill. It was discovered that this could be completely reversed thanks to a new process known as Coprocessing. Coprocessing is a technology that “blends” compa­ tible waste into a product that can be incinerated to fuel cement kilns. This replaces fossil fuels and other raw materials typically needed for the cement manufacturing process and reduces the amount of harmful emissions it creates. Not only does this have clearly beneficial advantages for our environment, but it provides signifi- cant cost savings for cement producers. AAK Brazil Achieves zero waste Here’s how it works: An example to follow AAK Brazil has set an excellent example of what can be achieved. Today, approximately 97 percent of its waste is sent for recycling, reuse and composting, with the other 3 percent being sent for Coprocessing. As a global organization, AAK is constantly looking for better ways to reduce its environmental footprint by generating less landfill waste – and Coprocessing is proving to be one of the most effective. COPROCESSING 1 6 2 5 3 4 AAK generates waste Transporting the waste to the blend unit The waste is analyzed and processed Final disposal waste certificate Transport blend to the cement industry The blend is used as fuel in the kiln to make cement Waste into blend transformation WASTE BLEND Waste in energy transforming 49