BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.26
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
STAR Refinery and Petkim saw a significant increase in recycling rate in 2021, Head of the SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemicals Business Unit, director general of Petkim petrochemical complex Anar Mammadov said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“We upgraded the infrastructure of the waste management system at Petkim and STAR refinery in 2020 in our Oil Refining and Petrochemical Works Department on zero waste principle and achieved an increase in the waste recycling rate. With the Zero Waste Management System, we minimize waste generation by investigating the causes of waste in production, consumption and service processes. We prefer to recycle waste or do it with licensed companies for recycling. Thanks to all the work we have done, we have increased the waste recycling rate at STAR Oil Refinery and Petkim by 30 percent compared to the previous year. At this stage, the waste recycling rate at STAR is about 97 percent,” he said.
Mammadov noted that with the work in this area, the company has been able to achieve success at the global level. Petkim is among the top 10 companies in the world in its sector in the ESG rankings.
“New technologies that we integrate into our operations allow us to take great advantage in sustainable and efficient production. For example, with the digitalization applications and technological innovations we have implemented at the STAR refinery, we have been able to significantly reduce carbon emissions and water consumption. Consumption of natural gas used as fuel at the refinery also decreased by 6 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. In addition, we managed to reduce waste by 178,000 tons, and saved 406,000 tons of water,” he added.
Mammadov went on to add that Petkim, one of our group enterprises, also operates on the principle of sustainable production and uses applications that minimize the impact of the company’s activities on the environment.
“We are developing innovative, sustainable and digital technologies at our SOCAR Turkey Research and Development and Innovation Center, which we have established to meet our sustainable development goals. For example, we see successful work at Petkim on the use of 50 percent recycled pellets in packaging production. At the same time, we assess the recycling of plastic waste with a vision of transition to a circular economy, and conduct experiments and develop cooperation in the field of mechanical recycling,” he concluded.
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