Emerald Milieujaarverslag 2011 eng

Emerald Kalama ChemicalSite RotterdamSafety & Environmental Report 2011

02 Emerald Kalama Chemical | Safety & Environmental Report 2011

2011 was the first year with our new owner Emerald Performance Materials. We started the year by sharing each other’s vision related to topics such as safety and the environment. Soon we were able to conclude that when we pay

attention to safety and the environment, we are also paying attention to business economy. This resulted in 2011 in the construction of a new production plant for plasticizers and various improvement projects in the

field of safety and the environment. Various employees share their thoughts in this Health, Safety and the Environment Report where they talk about their experiences related to safety and the environment. I hope that this will be just as inspiring for you as it was for us.

Huber Claassen

Site Director

Continuous improvement

In 2012 Emerald Kalama Chemical Rotterdam contin-ues its journey as a world leader in the production of benzoic acid and its derivatives by focusing on plans to expand manufacturing operations, improve efficien-cies in waste water management, reduce particulate emissions, control environmental impacts and improve

worker safety. These initiatives are exciting changes that will strengthen the facility and the company.A benefit of the Rotterdam facility joining the Emerald Kalama Chemical team is the sharing of ideas and technologies with its sister plant located in Kalama Washington, USA. While each facility continues to learn from the other, we are making progress towards established goals.

Capitalizing on the strengths of both plants, projects initiated in 2012 show the company commitment to continuously improving operations while preserving and protecting the environment, the workers, and the community in which we operate.

You can read more about the special projects, operational changes and managements’ commitment to continuous improvement in health, safety and the environment in this report.

Brenda Abke

Director Health, Safety, Environment & Security

Emerald Performance Materials

Our processes and productsEmerald Kalama Chemical in Rotterdam is a global player in the field of benzoates. The production location produces a wide range of raw and auxiliary materials for application in the food and pharmaceutical industry, the beverage industry and for cosmetic, resin and adhesive manufacturers. Emerald Kalama Chemical has approximately 140 permanent employees and about 50 contractor employees.

Tolueen oxidatie

Benzaldehyde

Benzoëzuur

Benzylalcohol

BenzoëzuurPurox B

NatriumbenzoaatPurox SNatronloog

Emerald Kalama Chemical | Safety & Environmental Report 2011 03

Emerald Kalama Chemical in Rotterdam is a global player in the field of benzoates. The production location produces a wide range of raw and auxiliary materials for application in the food and pharmaceutical industry, the beverage industry and for cosmetic, resin and adhesive manufacturers. Emerald Kalama Chemical has approximately 140 permanent employees and about 50 contractor employees. The products Benzaldehyde, Benzyl alcohol and Benzoic acid are created through an oxidation process resulting from toluene and compressed air. A portion of the benzoic acid is upgraded through an additional purification step and sold as a liquid product, or after crystallization, as benzoic acid flakes. Sodium benzoate is created by allowing the benzoic acid to react with sodium hydroxide. All of these products are ingredients, used to produce a wide range of products for industry and consumers. We have been applying the latest technology to produce the highest quality benzoic acid since 2002. This product has since been sold under the brand name Purox B, while sodium benzoate is sold under the brand name Purox S.

Benzaldehyde (Bald):

Benzaldehyde is used as a fragrance and flavour ingredient in macaroons, pudding (almond flavour), soft drinks and various types of perfume (lily of the valley, rose and jasmine). It is also used as a raw material in the manufacture of dye for packaging materials (malachite) , cough syrup (ephedrine) and in the production of medicines. Emerald Kalama Chemical is the largest producer of Benzaldehyde in the world.

Benzoic acid (BZA): Purox B

Benzoic acid is used as a preservative in food and cosmetics (E210) and as an additive to alkyd paints to render the product easily spreadable, stronger and improved gloss. It is also used as a raw material for plasticizers.

Sodium benzoate (NaB): Purox S

Sodium benzoate is a natural product found in blueberries and it is used as a preservative (E211) in ‘light’ products such as soft drinks and sauces.

Benzyl alcohol (Balc):

This substance is applied in the paint industry as a solvent and as a raw material in the production of epoxy resins. Benzyl alcohol is also used in personal hygiene products such as shampoo, toothpaste and perfume.


Environmental management system

Emerald Kalama Chemical has had an environmental management system in place since 1994. The current certification under the ISO 14001:2004 standard is valid until January 2014.Various internal audits have been conducted for interim verification of the work processes in order to continue to meet the requirements for the environmental management system. It is thereby determined whether the work processes meet the requirements of the standard in practice, or to put differently: to verify if the work is carried out as it is described. During the report year an accredited agency conducted an interim review of the environmental management system. No deviation from the standard was found. However, two areas of improvement were reported and dealt with in 2012: 1. Various tools were used within EKC to

determine the environmental risks of the plant. A point of attention was that a link had to be created between the tools and the overview obtained as a result.

2. A clearer burden of proof was required in the internal audit reports.

Environmental permit

In 2011, Emerald Kalama Chemical started various projects arising from the permit requirements as contained in the Environmental Management Act (EMA) and the Water Act. A short summary of the main aspects is given below.

- RIO project phase 1: disconnection of uncontaminated rainwater from the process sewer to relieve the water treatment process and to reduce waterlogging on the terrain

- Study into further reduction of benzene emissions

- Started with the decontamination of past pollution in area 10A.

- Several optimisations to the water treatment process

- Started with a new maintenance and inspection programme of the process floors

- The site of EKC has already submitted a renewed soil policy (Location Management Plan for 2010-2015), which has been approved by the competent authority

- A permit has been requested from the competent authority for the construction and commissioning of the Multiple Purpose Plasticizer Plant (MP3), the demolition of the phenol tank (the tank was demolished last year) and the construction and commissioning of the carbon filtration unit.


Health and environmental action plan

The year 2012 is mainly devoted to the construction and start-up of the new Multiple Purpose Plasticizer Plant (MP3).

Below is an overview of the key projects with regards to the environment:

RIO project

The first two phases of the RIO project were completed in 2012. This project is intended to separate uncontaminated rain water from process wastewater. Increasing waterlogging on the terrain will thereby be reduced and some strain will be relieved from the water treatment installation.

Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) unit

The DAF unit is intended for removing sludge that is discharged from the anaerobic wastewater treatment to the aerobic wastewater treatment. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of the sludge in the aerobic system, (indirect) enhancement of the capacity and to avoid exceeding the limitations of the permit license regarding undissolved solids.

Particle filtration Unit

This project involves replacing the particle filtration unit of the process residue (tar) and natural gas-fired boiler F-6005. The current particle filter (bag filter package) is no longer adequate and it is technically end of lifetime. The implementation of the proposed change is positive from an environmental perspective for reducing the emission of soot and dust particles.

OHSAS 18001

With a view to working conditions and safety, the current safety manual was prepared in accordance with OHSAS 18001. This is an internationally recognised standard in the field of working conditions and safety. The management system used is equivalent to ISO 14001 (environmental management system).

Safety day

A safety day is being organised in 2012 for all employees, whereby the subject of safety is addressed in an interactive manner.

Safety instructions

With regards to the transition from DSM Special Products to Emerald Kalama Chemical, the development of new safety instructions was started with during the past year. During the course of 2012 these new safety instructions will be introduced.

■ 2006■ 2007 ■ 2008 ■ 2009■ 2010■ 2011

30

25

20

15

10

5

0Methane Toluene Benzene Total

Overview of diffusion emission (total)


Nidal Hammoud Hassan

Less strain on the environ-ment through the acquisition of a sludge centrifuge

“Water treatment is an issue that requires considerable attention,”

stated Process Technologist, Nidal Hassan Hammoud. “It is an as-

pect of our business that does not produce any revenue, but we can

save money here. One such example is the RIO project. In the past

we processed all of the water in the water treatment plants. Now

clean rainwater is directly discharged into the Botlek. This reduces

our water purification expenses.”

Another water purification project that cuts costs and allows for process

optimization is the investment in a sludge centrifuge. During the pu-

rification of waste water sludge is created in the treatment unit, which

is then processed externally. Hammoud: “Until recently this consisted

of 96% water and only 4% sludge. In the sludge centrifuge sludge the

sludge is concentrated to about 20%. This could lead to a significant

reduction in transportation and processing costs. Moreover, the impact

on the environmental is also considerably reduced.”

A flotation unit was purchased in 2011. This unit,

which separates sludge from the water, was taken

into use this year and it can be used in future to pro-

cess more wastewater. It became very

clear at the end of 2011 that this is

very important as we had to deal

with issues in sludge leach-

ing due to insufficient

capacity of the treatment

plant, which resulted in a

sludge overload. Ham-

moud: “We resolved the

issue immediately. Since

then we even are more

consciously looking at

preventing similar situ-

ations. We monitor the

‘health’ of the sludge three

times a week. If it is found

that problems could arise

we can act quickly.

Air

Production volume has decreased by approximately 7% when compared to 2010. This decrease is mainly caused by a planned plant stop of 4 weeks for maintenance activities. As a result the production period was one month shorter than the previous year. The graphs also show a small decrease in process-related emissions. There was a limited increase with toluene, however, which was caused by several smaller disturbances.

Total carbon dioxide levels in the air (in kton/year)

Benzene in the air (in kton/year)

200150100500

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

0,20,150,1

0,050

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Nitrogen oxides in the air (in kton/year)

100806040200

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Toluene in the air (in kton/year)

2,52

1,51

0,50

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011


Chris Stouten MP3 expansion project: an enormous challenge

Project manager Chris Stouten was in charge of a number of

important projects for Emerald Kalama Chemical in 2011. One of

these was the MP3 expansion project. This installation for the

production of plasticizers will start operation in July 2012. “This is

quite a challenge ,” stated Stouten. “It’s a big investment for us and

at the peak about 75 workers from the contractor will be involved.

This will also require a lot of additional inspections to ensure that

everything is going well.”

The plant for the production of plasticizers is a copy of the production

unit of Emerald Kalama Chemical in the US . Stouten said that during

the start-up he received assistance from his American colleagues. “We

are the first company in the Netherlands with such an installation, so

help is certainly welcome.”

Another project that required attention from the project manager, was

the RIO project where are polluted wastewater

and clean rainwater are separated. With the

application of this technique the load at the

water treatment plants was significantly

reduced.

Steam import is a third project. “Considerable

heat is released by the AVR waste processor,

including in the form of steam. We

want to use this steam and to do so

the construction of a steam pipe will

start soon,” explained Stouten. “This

pipeline will be 2.8 kilometres long,

with a diameter of 50 centimetres.

We are the first company to be using

steam from AVR with this new pipe,

but it is expected that more companies

will do so in the future. It is a wonderful

project: we will need less fossil fuels for

our existing boilers and as a result we

will obtain a significant reduction in CO2

emissions.”

Water

In the period from September to November 2011 a problem occurred in the water treatment plant, caused by an unusual event. An incidental overload of the wastewater treatment led to an explosive growth of filamentous bacteria in the aerobic wastewater treatment plant. This led to five permit limitation exceedances of the prescribed calculated averages of undissolved components. The following process conditions played a part here:• high load;• shortage of nutrients;• lack of oxygen.The above has led to an increase in the annual total of floating particles by 86%. An additional amount of wastewater was also processed externally due to these problems with water treatment. At the end of 2011 the water treatment plant was back under control and matters were back to normal.

CZV wastewater (in ton/year)

806040200

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Floating particles (in ton/year)

121086420

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011


Diana Schilperoord

Extra attention to safety with the MP3 project

There were various active projects at Emerald Kalama Chemical in

2011. Safety Officer Diana Schilperoord was responsible for ensuring

that safety remained in the back of everyone’s mind. The MP3 project,

the realisation of a production plant for plasticizers, is one of the

largest projects. “Various people from many companies are working

on this. It is therefore even more important for activities to be

coordinated so that everyone knows what the others will be doing.

This is the only way that safety risks can be reduced to a minimum.”

Safety expert Schilperoord explained that the issue of safety is always

on the agenda at weekly toolbox meetings. It is also always stressed for

contractor employees that Emerald Kalama Chemical is not a “normal”

company, or as Schilperoord put it: “A road worker must realize that he is

not busy building a driveway for a house!” Extra guards were deployed for

the MP3 project and where one guard would normally be in place in other

areas, two were used here.

“We also held an extra safety inspection every day

on top of the two safety inspection rounds per

day,” explained Schilperoord. During such a

safety inspection an Emerald representative

and one of the contractors do the rounds

to ensure that all of the work is being

done in safe manner. Three inspections

per day may seem excessive, but this is

not the case according to Schilperoord.

“Something was always found” in her

experience. “You don’t only have to

think of life-threatening situations, but

also of smaller points of improvement or

discussions. This includes areas such as

housekeeping or the use of protective

equipment. During such a safety

inspection round the greatest aim is to

keep the issue of safety fresh in the mind.

It is all about the power of repetition.”


In addition, the additional flow of waste water, originating from a former project, was still not completely processed in the waste water plant. As a result, a part of this flow of waste water had to be processed externally.

In 2012 various actions were implemented to optimise the functioning of the water treatment process and also to relieve some of the pressure. The implementation of the aforementioned RIO project and the installation of the DAF unit are some examples. A number of smaller projects were also implemented for further improvement.

Soil

Incidents

In 2011 two limited soil contamination incidents were reported to the authorities, which were immediately cleaned up.

Location management plan

In the framework of the Location Management Plan (LMP) for 2010 - 2015, an agreement was reached with the Competent Authority to report periodically on the situation of historical soil pollution in critical areas. It has to be determined in these areas if there is a question of spreading of the contamination. The biannual monitoring round took place in 2011 and the next round will be in 2013.

Sanitation of Area 10A

Soil sanitation in area 10A started in 2011 and it will take approximately three years to complete. About 100 lances were placed in a grid under the contamination in order to inject air into the contamination through the lances. The contamination is moved to the surface by the air, where it is converted by the added biofilm converted into water and carbon dioxide.

Guus Schrijn

Keeping the issue of safety fresh in mind

Guus Schrijn is licensed facilitator and project manager a senior

operator and he often has to deal with the subject of safety. “I am

very strict in the observance of safety requirements,” he said. “My

motto is always: “Do it safely or you don’t do it at all.” Younger

colleagues and company employees always need to be reminded

of the possible dangers. We work in a chemical company, and no

matter how difficult it may be sometimes, you must never lose

sight of safety.”

One example of a project that Schrijn is regularly in charge of is the

cleaning of tanks. In total Emerald Kalama Chemical has more than 30

tanks, including 3 large ones. The large tanks are inspected once every

ten years by the inspection department. Schrijn: “I am responsible

for preparing a schedule and a work plan in consultation with the

department of planning and logistics. The tanks

must be empty or nearly empty and cleaned before

people can enter them.”

During this and other projects, Schrijn has

extensive contact with the inspectors and work

planners. During all discussions safety remains

the most important issue. The project leader

considers it important that this topic must

always remain current. “If someone is unsure

of not familiar with an issue, he/she must be

able to say so without hesitation. Rather

ask or check something a hundred times

than make a mistake once... “


Maikel Poppelaars

Soil decontamination project to clean up benzene and toluene

“In 2011 we started with the decontamination of a part of our

terrain,” said Maikel Poppelaars, Environmental Engineer.

“This was necessary because it concerns past pollution (from

the seventies) of the first aquifer, which partly runs through our

terrain. The installation is now finished and we have started

the decontamination work. The project as a whole will take

approximately three years to complete.”

The soil contamination mentioned by Poppelaars concerns the

compounds benzene and toluene. Fortunately these substances can be

broken down with the application of a biofilm in the top 40 cm of the

soil. To bring the contamination to the surface, air is injected into the

soil. Under these aerobic conditions harmful substances are broken

down into carbon dioxide and water. Poppelaars: “The clean-up will

take about three years to complete. This may seem long, but we will

not even notice anything. We will regularly check

that to ensure that the biofilm does not contain any

benzene or toluene as the pollution will then be

released into the air. During the initial stages this

inspection took place every two weeks. Since no

contamination was detected, inspection will

now only take place every six months. This

way we can keep our finger on the pulse.”

This environmental engineer is also

involved with keeping the environmental

management system ISO 14001 up-to-

date, which is used to determine the

environmental risks of the company

and to take measures when necessary

in order to keep it to a minimum.

Poppelaars: “We have completed several

projects to this end, such as achieving

negligible soil contamination risk of the

processing floor, optimisation of water

purification and the engineering construction

of a filter installation in the flue gases of a

combustion boiler.”

Energy

In recent years, several projects have been implemented in order to further improve the energy efficiency of our facilities, which have led to significant environmental improvements.

During the past year energy consumption per tonne of product remained virtually unchanged compared to 2010.

Waste

An active flow of waste policy has been used on location for a number of years already. In addition the developed waste prevention plan was approved by DCMR in 2011. This plan is intended to further reduce the amount of waste generated on the site. All of the efforts taken have resulted in a reduction of the amount of standard waste and material to be incinerated. The total volume of waste has increased, however. This was caused by problems with water treatment, which required an amount of wastewater to be processed externally.

External processing of off-spec material was further reduced in 2011. This became possible as a result of an active search process for clients that can use the material and by producing less off-spec. Options were also considered in consultation with the customer to broaden the specification of products.


20

16

12

8

4

0

Overview of first aid and OSHA accidents

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

■ First aid ■ OSHA

12109876543210

Overview of reports to the authorities

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Irregularities and incidents

Accidents

Two accidents (OSHA) occurred during the past year with one accident resulting in medical treatment and one in absenteeism from work. The number of first-aid accidents increased when compared to 2010. The graph below shows the trend of accidents, along with the targets for 2012.

In 2011 the number of VGM (Safety, Health and the Environment) registrations and near-misses recorded in the incident register increased and 780 safety management audits were conducted.

Incidents

In 2011 eleven incidents had to be reported to the competent authority. This was an increase over the previous year, which can be largely related to the temporary malfunctioning of the waste water plant. The graph below shows the trend of environment incidents, along with the targets for 2012.

The causes of the above accidents and incidents are always thoroughly analysed by EKC. The main lessons from the analysis of accidents and incidents are incorporated into an action plan with measures to prevent accidents and incidents.

Emerald Kalama Chemical

Montrealweg 15

Havennummer 4322

3197 KH Rotterdam-Botlek, The Netherlands

PO Box 1021

3180 AA Rozenburg, The Netherlands

Colophon

This public report contains a summary of our official

environmental report.

Edition

Emerald Performance Materials

Design

SD Communicatie, Rotterdam

Photography

Wim van der Spiegel

Interviews

Anita Schregardus

Printed by

De Swart

Copyright © 2012

All rights reserved.

Interested parties can request the official report by

contacting John Mol.

E-Mail: [email protected]

T: +31 (0)181 249 386

Emerald Milieujaarverslag 2011 eng

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