Petchem delegates explore sustainability challenges

24/10/2014 08:44 AST

GCC petrochemical companies are being urged to educate their staff to enable them to work around sustainability challenges.

Energy companies embarking on conservation efforts will benefit from lower costs of production, said delegates

The second and last day of the GPCA Sustainability Conference focused on the environmental aspects of sustainability.

Presentations and discussions focused on exchange of experiences and lessons for excellence. SABIC and Tasnee provided an insight on their experiences with sustainability.

Tasnee CEO Saleh Al-Nazha, keynote speaker, took the audience through a journey on the history of his company.

Tasnee is a private Saudi downstream company.

Tasnee started in 1985 as a joint venture in the petrochemical industry with integrated operations in project development, marketing and implementation.

The company has seen 100 percent growth over 10 years. Tasnee, which started as a small downstream company, has now expanded to become to a major player in the industry. At Tasnee, Al-Nazha, said sustainability is embedded through an Integrated Management Rating System (IMRS).

“Our idea is to have a long-term plan to contribute to society, we can do that using plastics, which is not always bad,” he said.

“A good measurement for how to evaluate sustainability is through good growth.”

He also highlighted the importance of exchanging information as it has a “significant influence on decision-making, expansion and strategy.”

Al-Nazhea called for more cooperation between government and companies.

He said in an interview with Arab News after his presentation that there are different challenges and incentives for companies in private and public sectors. When asked whether he fears risk, he said: “No, we know that we have lots of pilot projects which we know may be a success or failure..”

Senior executives from SABIC also made presentations at the event.

Atieh Abu Raqabah of SABIC said: “We at SABIC look at how we can make an influence, both internally and externally.”

He said companies could bank on quality partnerships to achieve sustainability SABIC has forges such links at the World Economic Forum.

Another way of sharing information is through reports. SABIC has been publishing reports on sustainability since 2011.

“Sustainability is an investment not a cost,” he said. Creativity makes money as well as innovative products.

Dealing with another topic, Baker Fallatah, GM at SABIC, highlighted the company’s strategy for energy efficiency.

He said: “Sustainability is not a luxury. It has an effect on economy.”

SABIC, a public listed company, has 40,00 employees in 45 countries. It is the second largest diversified petrochemical company in the world.

Arab News