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Air Quality

Managing Air Quality in South Africa

Over the years, we have continued our efforts to reduce our impact on air quality. These are focused on compliance with regulatory requirements to retain our licence to operate; innovative solutions; and constructive engagements with stakeholders including our fence line communities and regulatory authorities.

 

 ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

 

 

 HELP

 HINDER

  • Managing and meeting our air quality compliance obligations
  • Procuring renewable energy
  • Continued focus on improving our environmental footprint
  • Regulatory timelines at risk
  • Cost of transition and adaptation

 Why this is a Material Matter

 We need to operate within the regulatory and policy frameworks to maintain   our licence to operate and be proactive in going beyond compliance.

 Addressing our GHG emissions is crucial to our sustainability.

 Group top priority

 Safe, efficient and reliable operations

 Impact of Material Matter

  • Earnings
  • Growth
  • Long-term viability
  • Stakeholder commitments
  • Sustainability
  • Reputation

 OPPORTUNITIES

  • Protecting our licence to operate
  • Improved environmental footprint will positively impact our ESG ratings, increasing investment attractiveness
  • Pursue emerging sustainable opportunities

 Risk

 MEDIUM- TO LONG-TERM BUSINESS VIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

 GROUP TOP RISK 2: SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSITION

 Mitigating actions

 The bulk of our Southern African Operations remain dependent on coal as a   primary feedstock, and this makes up the greatest portion of our contribution   to the relevant airsheds. In addressing this we have implemented initiatives   and taken actions. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Technical solutions being pursued
  • Renewable energy procurement identified as a key intervention initiative – 1,2 GW by 2030, with >600 MW progressed during 2024
  • Short-term water targets set and monitored for remedial action
  • Continued the process of creating a baseline understanding for circularity
  • ESG questionnaire sent to suppliers in South Africa

 Metrics

 Short term

 Medium term

 Long term

  • Renewable energy uptake targets
  • Setting biodiversity targets
  • Short-term water targets
  • Baseline understanding of circularity at Sasol
 

 SUSTAINABLY DECARBONISING FOR FUTURE SASOL

 HELP

 HINDER

  • Just energy transition 
  • Execute an optimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction roadmap and programme towards Future Sasol
  • Aligning a visible and integrated just transition programme and incorporating localisation and economic empowerment
  • Drive low-carbon initiatives in a value-accretive way by expanding on all lucrative growth opportunities
  • Capital availability
  • Enabling and accessing incentives for development and transitioning initiatives
  • Impact of carbon tax regimes on Future Sasol
  • Inability of current operations to adapt to extreme weather events resulting from climate change

 Why this is a Material Matter

 We are acutely aware that our Future Sasol strategy is dependent   on sustainable value creation and transitioning our operations.

 In order to decarbonise at the pace required, we will have to secure the   capital resources while traversing challenging regulatory regimes and a   volatile market.

 Group top priority

 Safe, efficient and reliable operations; stakeholder confidence and growth agenda

 Impact of Material Matter

  • Long-term viability
  • Financial resilience
  • Increased climate change pressures
  • Stakeholder commitments
  • Business sustainability
  • Reputation

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Developing our technology will open new growth avenues and expand the use of our products
  • Foster stronger collaboration with government to achieve national decarbonisation targets and objectives
  • Renewable energy, gas to power and biomass value creation

 Risk

 MEDIUM- TO LONG-TERM BUSINESS VIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

 GROUP TOP RISK 2: SUSTAINABILITY AND TRANSITION

 Mitigating actions

  • Developing an integrated technology strategy and roadmap with reference to the pathways
  • Assessing market positioning against emerging trends, setting targets, transforming our product portfolio, maintaining product supply, meeting customer needs and focusing/delivering to our base business targets
  • Clean Fuels and octane programme
  • Making our business more sustainable by moving towards cleaner energy solutions and preserving value from existing assets
  • Executing against our emission reduction roadmap optimising for value creation

 Metrics

 Short term

 Medium term

 Long term

  • Decarbonisation targets
  • Optimal 2030 GHG emission reduction roadmap
  • Renewable energy uptake
  • Energy efficiency improvement
  • Setting up new sustainable businesses/partnerships

 

 

STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND REGULATORS

HELP

HINDER

  • Enhancing customer experience from aligned internal structure and improvement in systems and processes
  • Partnering opportunities
  • Strengthening partnerships for economic transformation and localisation
  • Maintain regular and transparent communication and disclosure
  • Focus on our Human Capital talent attraction and retention strategy, diversity gender equality and pay parity
  • Government engagement on regulatory matters
  • Caring and engaging communities
  • Unsuccessfully addressing the negative perception of Sasol
  • Perceived lack of transparency around employment opportunities
  • Lack of clarity around key strategic matters
  • Uncompetitive shareholder returns

Why this is a Material Matter

Strengthening relationships with all our stakeholders is an indispensable requirement to build credibility and trust.

Being perceived as a credible partner will contribute to delivering shared value.

Group top priority

Culture, customer value proposition; stakeholder confidence and growth agenda

Impact of Material Matter

  • Breakdown in relations with host government
  • Volume output
  • Earnings
  • Loss of licence to operate
  • Growth
  • Sustainability
  • Reputation
  • Employee Value Proposition

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Authentically and genuinely advance ‘caring’ in the character of our organisation
  • Be an employer of choice
  • Shift from fossil fuels to renewables
  • Supplier relationship management

Risk

STAKEHOLDER IMPACT

GROUP TOP RISK 4: STAKEHOLDER

Mitigating actions

  • Customer relationship management
  • Deliver on stakeholder commitments impacting local content
  • Develop and implement our just transition roadmap
  • Our Zero Harm aspiration continuously reinforced as a Group top priority

Metrics

Short term

Medium term

Long term

  • Setting up new sustainable business ventures
  • Advancing feasibility studies for emerging new value pools
  • Employee engagement surveys
  • Customer, supplier and other stakeholder satisfaction engagements
 

SAFETY OF OUR PEOPLE

HELP

HINDER

  • Humanising safety
  • Caring for our people
  • Making sure our people return home safely
  • Ongoing safety interventions
  • Occurrence of high-severity incidents
  • Perception of air quality impact on health

Why this is a Material Matter

Returning our teams home to their families from work

is our first priority.

Unsafe working conditions must never be tolerated, and safety is a non-negotiable.

The workplace must be a beacon of safety, when this is compromised, everything we strive for is undermined.

Group top priority

Safe, efficient and reliable operations

 

Impact of Material Matter

  • Productivity
  • Volume output
  • Earnings
  • Sustainability
  • Reputation

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Authentically and genuinely advance ‘caring’ in the culture of our organization
  • Leaders to increase presence in the workspace where barriers to safety are being experienced
  • Never take shortcuts that could endanger anyone

Risk

SHORT-TERM BUSINESS RESILIENCE AND VIABILITY

GROUP TOP RISK 1:

SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL

Mitigating actions

  • Our Zero Harm commitment continuously reinforced as a Group top priority
  • Reiterating our value ‘Be Safe’, for oneself and others
  • Reinforcing our value ‘Be Caring’ and humanising safety
  • Implementing and reviewing programmes that support our Zero Harm aspiration
  • Including Zero Harm target as part of our executive and employee incentive schemes

Metrics

Short term

Medium term

Long term

  • High-severity injury rate
  • Recordable case rate
  • Process safety fires, explosions and releases (FERs)
  • Transport indicator of safety performance
 

TRANSFORMING FOR RESILIENCE

HELP

HINDER

  • Optimal feedstock deployment
  • Ensuring strong cybersecurity
  • Restoring trust and credibility
  • Enhancing leadership focus to improve collaboration across more streamlined operating model
  • A strong balance sheet to fund the transition
  • Delivering FY25 priorities ensuring cash flow resilience that enables Future Sasol
  • Operational underperformance and delivery
  • Local infrastructure, utilities and logistics negatively impacting feedstock availability, product dispatch and customer centricity
  • Market volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, and disruption
  • Inability to retain current talent to stabilise core operations
  • Declining cash flows

Why this is a Material Matter

Without a strong foundation business, that our stakeholders have faith in, we will not be able to transition to Future Sasol.

We know how our business needs to respond to ensure that as we strengthen our foundation business, it is more resilient into the future.

Group top priority

Safe, efficient and reliable operations and cash generation

Impact of Material Matter

  • Financial stability
  • Operational stability ensuring optimum returns
  • Earnings
  • Reputation
  • Trust and credibility
  • Sustainability

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Position the organisation to be future fit
  • Deliver shared value and growth
  • Promote innovation
  • Enhance our reputation

 

Risk

SHORT-TERM BUSINESS RESILIENCE AND VIABILITY

GROUP TOP RISK 1: FINANCIAL

EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION

GROUP TOP RISK 3: PEOPLE

Mitigating actions

  • Delivering on Sasol 2.0 targets
  • Attending to operational stability
  • Group financial market risk management policy, processes and frameworks (includes hedging) and environmental, social, governance (ESG) – linked financing framework developed
  • Group assumptions, budgeting, forecasting and scenario analysis processes with Sasol 2.0 full potential initiatives
  • Creating financial headroom by optimising cash flow including margin improvement and cost containment initiatives – balance sheet management and protection, including management of financial risk appetite and tolerance metrics
  • Culture of inclusion and care is driven across all regions, with tailored communication to address employee concerns as new issues arise

Metrics

Short term

Medium term

Long term

  • Improving cash fixed cost
  • Uplifting gross margin
  • Managing working capital
  • Optimising capital expenditure
  • Maintaining a reasonable employee turnover rate
  • Customer engagement analysis

We are committed to implementing the second phase of our offsetting implementation plan which is focused on the reduction of PM and SO2 pollution in the surrounding communities. The plan includes a comprehensive education and awareness campaign, covering the public and schools. The school awareness campaign consisted of nine secondary schools within the communities of Govan Mbeki Local Municipality. The campaign created a positive impact as learners were introduced to in- depth concepts of air quality. Engagements sessions and door-to-door campaigns that were conducted, exceeded 7500 households in Embalenhle and Lebohang since the inception of the campaign. The impact of the programme was bolstered by the publication of these relevant topics, in local newspapers, in three regional languages. Between 2017 and 2020, we implemented the retrofitting of thermal insulation to houses and a LPG for coal stove swop in 5532 households across eMbalenhle and Lebohang to reduce emissions from coal burning, while simultaneously  improving the quality of life participating households. The evaluation of the household intervention was conducted in 2023 during the Phase 2 Re-baseline Air Quality Offsetting Campaign study of which 507 retrofitted households participated.  97% of the retrofitted households remain coal free. Additionally, 200 houses were retrofitted in eMbalenhle during the Phase 2 household intervention offsetting project. Sasolburg’s offset programme continues to contribute to air quality improvement. The paving of the original 1.6 km road in Zamdela assisted in limiting dust liberation due to vehicles travelling on the road. Approximately 5 000 ton of PM10 and 1 300 ton of PM2.5 emissions per year were reduced. An additional 1.8 km of road in the same area has been paved during the reporting period and the associated reduction impact will be assessed during 2025. Sasolburg and Natref cut about 3.6 million m2 of grass and removed some 900 ton of biomass around the Sasolburg area. Approximately 6 tons of PM10, 5 tons of PM2.5 and 1 ton of SO2 emissions were avoided due to this intervention. Furthermore, around 2 740 tons of domestic waste was removed resulting in approximately 20 tons of PM10, 19 tons of PM2.5 and 3 tons of SO2 emissions being avoided.

Sasolburg’s longer-term planning includes the role out of low smoke coal stoves within the Zamdela area to households making use of open fires for heat and cooking purposes. A pilot project was launched where 50 stoves were tested within a community in Oranjeville. Promising results, with an 80% reduction in emissions compared to conventional stoves have been observed. The next phase is to commercialise the stove where after construction and a larger role out will  commence. The Education and Awareness program within the Zamdela area was a success with 10 100 learners and 80 teachers reached through this program. The program entailed inter alia an informative puppet show for lower grades and an industrial theatre for higher grades.

The vehicle emission testing program which has been re-established and weekly monitoring of vehicle emissions has commenced.

Improvements for Particulate Matter reduction within Secunda, Sasolburg and Natref Operations include:

  • At Secunda Operations, we have retrofitted 16 out of 17 ESPs with abatement equipment and 
  • At Sasolburg’s Steam Station plants, we upgraded eight of the 12 ESPs with one boiler being retrofitted at our Steam Station 1 plant

Improvements for Nitrogen Oxide reduction within Secunda, Sasolburg and Natref Operations include:

  • Three additional low NOx retrofits at our boiler fleet were completed during the reporting year at SO with a fourth installation ongoing, with the roll-out of the remainder of the fleet on track to be fully compliant with the MES limit. A total of 9 boilers were retrofitted with low NOx burner abatement technology up to date.
  • At SEO, low NOx burners were installed on seven of the 12 operational boilers, with one low NOx burner installation currently in progress.

Improvements reduction from our incinerators within Secunda and Sasolburg:

  • The Bio-sludge to gasification project is now in construction phase with eight reactors (part of the Cambi lysis units) installed up to date. This project will enable carbon beneficiation from this waste stream that is currently incinerated in the bio-sludge incinerators, enabling the decommissioning of the bio- sludge incinerators
  • At Sasolburg, we continue to review the sustainable alternative method to incineration for the handling of the Sasolburg waste streams

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