Illovo - Climate Change and Environmental Impacts Report 2014/15 - page 9

INPUTS
Energy and other materials inputs
The input materials used in the group’s production processes are relevant to the extent that they impact
on the conservation of the global resource base and are the focus of our efforts to reduce resource
intensity and the management of our total operational costs. Where practical, we use input materials that
promote environmental responsibility. Factory by-products, in the form of filter cake, vinasse and boiler
ash are applied to cane fields as natural fertilisers, while herbicides, pesticides and fungicides are
applied at an average rate of less than 1 litre per annum for every seven tons of cane grown. The use of
our by-products as nutrient supplements decreases the group’s reliance on organic fertilisers, thereby
resulting in decreased costs, resource intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
In the sugar production process, steam is generated using bagasse, which is the renewable fibrous residue
that remains after the extraction of juice from the crushed stalks of sugar cane. This steam is used to
provide the process heating requirements of the sugar production process, and then to generate
renewable electricity through co-generation. The electricity is primarily used within the sugar manufacturing
process, to power milling, refining and packaging processes, with excess exported to provide electricity for
irrigation of the agricultural estates, other downstream processes and national electricity grids.
In certain operations, the energy derived from bagasse is not sufficient to provide all energy requirements
of the production processes and supplementary fuel is required. Supplementary fuels include biomass and
wood/woodchips, which are renewable and coal, which is non-renewable.
During the year under review, Illovo’s operations utilised approximately 4.4 million tons of bagasse and
143 000 tons of biomass (including woodchips), all used to generate 32 302 982 GJ of energy, or 90% of
the Group’s total energy consumption. This equates to 18.36 GJ of energy per ton of sugar produced,
derived from renewable energy sources, compared to 18.78 GJ of energy of sugar produced in the
previous reporting period.
The largest use of non-renewable energy across Illovo occurs at our four sugar mills, as well as two
ethanol distilleries in South Africa, and our Ubombo mill in Swaziland. During the year under review,
these manufacturing operations collectively consumed 55 811 tons of coal, resulting in an equivalent
energy intensity of 0.032 tons of coal per ton of sugar produced.
Various chemicals are used in both sugar and downstream processing, with the biggest quantities being:
0.662 million litres of sulphuric acid;
7.057 million litres of hydrochloric acid;
0.497 million litres of phosphoric acid; and
5.266 million litres of flocculent (Seperan – LT27 and Magnafloc – R300).
The process chemicals are issued from stock and process consumption is maintained within process
dosage protocols.
Associated with the above, Illovo used 0.522 million litres of oils and lubricants which represents
0.321 litres of oils and lubricants during the reporting period.
Recycled input materials in our operations are limited to toner cartridges and copper chrome catalyst.
The latter is sent to the manufacturer, BASF in Germany, which returns the processed material to our
downstream plant for reuse. A total 7 tons of copper chromate catalyst was recycled during the reporting
period.
Illovo is actively working to reduce the volume of materials it procures and considers reusable material
where appropriate. This focus has led to the use of recyclable packaging material and the procurement
of reusable and recyclable bulk polypropylene bags. A total of 11 643 tons of recyclable packaging
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18
Powered by FlippingBook