Environment

We regularly invest in the improvement of environmental performance. The transition of the Kamyanets-Podilskyi cement plant to the dry method of clinker production has allowed to:

• reduce our dust emissions into the air by a factor of ten;
• more than halve our fuel consumption;
• reduced emissions of CO₂ and NOх.

Currently, the Kamianets-Podilsky plant is implementing a project to replace traditional types of fuel for the production of clinker with alternative ones - solid renewable fuel (SRF) and biomass. This helps reduce the amount of fossil fuel production, the amount of waste placed in landfills, and greenhouse gas emissions, because biomass is carbon neutral, and in order of priority, it ensures compliance with the waste management hierarchy.

Mykolaivcement aims to implement a project to use for its own production needs rainwater and meltwater from the main industrial site, which is used to enter natural water bodies after mechanical cleaning. This project helps to reduce water consumption and, accordingly, discharges into water bodies.

We promote cement with additives in the Ukrainian market, namely granulated blast furnace slag, fly ash, and limestone. This cement has long held the leading market share in all European countries with strict environmental requirements for the industry. Additives in the production of cement contribute to solving several ecological issues:

• Replacing a part of Portland cement clinker with special additives makes it possible to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants when burning clinker, a semi-finished product used in the production of cement.
• Blast furnace slag, a by-product of metallurgy production, is disposed of in large dumps. Meanwhile, slag application for cement production ensures integrated use of industrial waste, reduces dump areas, and decreases environmental pollution in accordance with the order of priority, ensuring compliance with the waste management hierarchy.
• Replacing clinker with blast furnace granulated slag reduces the extraction of raw material components from which clinker is made. Eventually, the need to quarry new deposits is reduced, preserving the reserves of minerals and land for agricultural purposes and biodiversity habitats.

We have introduced a comprehensive system of management of the waste generated in the course of business. For instance, paper, plastic, and depleted small chemical power sources (pencil-sized batteries, accumulators) are collected in special containers and sent for recycling to receive a second life or disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner.

The employees are keen to support such initiatives and develop new ideas themselves. For example, since 2018, there has been an ongoing campaign to abandon plastic utensils.

We fruitfully collaborate with the scientists from the “Podilski Tovtry” National Nature Park to help monitor flora and fauna species subject to special protection in Europe and identify their habitats where they live and grow. The result of our cooperation is the study of the periods and directions of migration of birds and bats on the territory of quarries and in the protection zone, keeping records of bats in the largest winter storage of European bat species.

Every year, we plant trees and participate in various social-environmental initiatives on the plant sites and in the communities where we operate.