Environment
Imerys prides itself on having what we believe is the most sustainable set of kaolin assets in the world. In connection with our latest expansion and restructuring of our kaolin assets we took a bold step into use of entirely new technology to minimise the use of energy. From this stems our new Capim "granulate" product form and a large expansion of the "tube press" product form in Brazil as well as in the UK. Overall this has had a profound impact on our energy use and thus on the carbon footprint of our operations.
Imerys Rio Capim Caulim (IRCC) in Brazil, with its environmental management system certified according to ISO 14001:2004, has significantly improved its carbon footprint over the last few years. From 2005 to 2009 the average kg CO2 eqv/ton of kaolin was reduced by 40%. To a large extent this was a result of the new low-energy product forms of our Capim™ range of products. The new product forms have higher moisture levels, meaning we have to ship more water but through use of large size vessels and modern supply hubs we minimize the environmental impact of our logistics. As a result of this the new Capim™ granulate product form has 25% lower carbon footprint, CIF port in Finland, compared to spray dried product. Moreover, the granulate and tube press form offer virtually dust free handling.
Carbon Footprint
Imerys Pigments for Paper has an established methodology for measuring and reporting the carbon footprint for its pigments. This methodology includes the whole supply chain and has been widely used to calculate and report the carbon footprint of various pigments to customers for the last couple of years.
Our efforts to continually improve the carbon footprint of our products have proven to deliver excellent results. The new filler platform in Cornwall has a much lower carbon footprint than the old, although direct comparison is difficult due to the substantial changes in Cornwall. It is easier to look at the results achieved at IRCC. Over the last few years we have introduced new product forms, such as TP (tube press) and GR (granulate) with much lower CO2 effluents as a result. The trend for our average ex works carbon footprint across all kaolin production at IRCC from 2005 to 2009 shows the very significant level of improvement.
The advantages of our new low dusting and easy to disperse tube press and granulate product forms are obvious when measured at this “ex works” position. The higher moisture content of these product forms, compared to the spray dried product, does however mean that more water needs to be transported. It is therefore necessary to extend the analysis to include the logistics chain, bringing the products to our customers. Logistics plays a significant role in our carbon footprint as most of our customers tend to be some distance from our production site in Brazil. Through efficient use of large size ships and modern logistics hubs, such as our Eurohub in Antwerp, we are able to minimise this impact. The “delivered” carbon footprint of Capim™ DG, for instance, to port in Finland is reduced by 25% by going from spray dried to granulate product form.
The positive impact of our less energy intensive granulate product form is also reflected in other low energy product forms, i.e. tube press and slurry. It is clear, that for most customers in North America and Europe, these would be the lowest carbon footprint options.
As the management and reporting of carbon footprint has now become well established we are currently preparing for what will be the next major step. The “next big thing” after carbon footprint will be water footprint!
Methodology for Calculating Carbon Footprint
The scope and principles in the document below are applied in Imerys carbon footprint reporting for kaolin, GCC and PCC alike.
