Environmental Responsibility

The group understands the importance of environmental protection as a key starting point for achieving sustainable development. It is committed to reducing the environmental impact of its operations and promoting environmental protection within the enterprise and supply chain. The group has formulated environmental, social, and corporate governance policies aimed at achieving environmental goals related to reducing carbon footprints, waste, and emissions.

Both the Chinese and Italian facilities under Shengneng Group have obtained ISO 14001 environmental management system certification. The group also implemented a life cycle analysis compliant with the third-party environmental label ISO 14025 in 2022 and is currently finalizing the Product Environmental Declaration (PED) for graphite electrodes, expected to be certified in the first quarter of 2024. Shengneng Group continually optimizes its equipment systems to support environmental protection and the use of renewable energy sources. It has installed distributed control systems and online continuous environmental pollution monitoring systems to help monitor pollutant emission levels. In addition, its Italian facility has completed the installation of photovoltaic solar panels to support the use of renewable energy sources.

The group is committed to minimizing environmental damage caused by its operations by continuously improving environmental management practices and measures, reducing energy and other resource consumption, minimizing waste, and promoting a culture of recycling within the enterprise. The group believes that addressing environmental issues is a collective responsibility of every member of society.

Emissions

Air Pollution Emissions

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Wastewater Discharge

Waste Management

The group has installed a pollution control system, including Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) system (for controlling nitrogen oxide emissions), Dual Alkali Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) system (for controlling sulfur dioxide emissions), and Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) system (for removing particulate matter from flue gas). Additionally, the group has installed a distributed control system and an online continuous environmental pollution monitoring system to assist in monitoring pollutant emissions levels.

The group has set targets to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions intensity from existing facilities by 10% from the fiscal year 2022 to 2027, and a further 10% reduction from 2027 to 2032. Additionally, the group has set a target to achieve carbon neutrality by the fiscal year 2050. The group actively implements environmental measures to achieve emission reduction targets, including the installation of photovoltaic solar panels in its Italian facilities as part of a photovoltaic project.

The group ensures that any water pollution control facilities should be designed, constructed, and put into use simultaneously with the start of construction projects. The group is committed to ensuring that discharged wastewater does not exceed national or local water pollution discharge standards and major water pollutant discharge control indicators. The discharged wastewater is directed to the municipal sewage network.

The group has formulated environmental, social, and corporate governance policies to ensure that all hazardous and non-hazardous waste is properly and safely managed. It has set zero violations targets for the generation and disposal of hazardous waste and established guidelines for the management and disposal of hazardous waste. Any hazardous waste generated is stored in temporary storage areas that meet impermeability, windproof, and rainproof requirements. In addition, conspicuous signs indicating the presence of hazardous waste are erected at such locations. The group has also engaged qualified third-party chemical waste collection companies to collect chemical waste to comply with relevant environmental laws and regulations. For non-hazardous waste, the group is committed to waste reduction goals, including adopting appropriate inventory management routines to avoid excess inventory and unnecessary use of materials, and deploying technical teams to closely monitor waste rates at group production facilities, aiming to continuously improve production processes to increase efficiency.

Environmental and Natural Resources

The group has established environmental, social, and corporate governance policies to continuously improve environmental and resource management to reduce the impact of production and business activities on the environment. For example, the group has installed industrial silencers to ensure that noise generated during production does not exceed approved levels to protect wildlife; the use of dust collectors and electrostatic precipitators to filter fine particles from dust and treat asphalt smoke before discharge to reduce air pollution. In the future, the group will continue to make operations more environmentally friendly and strive to fulfill social responsibilities through technological innovation.

Environmental Awareness

In addition to strictly requiring employees to implement environmental measures, the group also actively raises environmental awareness among employees. The group regularly reminds employees to recycle waste, conserve water and energy to reduce long-term natural resource depletion. The group also organizes environmental activities for employees to participate in and establishes internal communication channels for them to exchange environmental-related matters. Additionally, the environmental management systems of the Chinese and Italian facilities have been ISO 14001 certified, and the group adopts green practices when purchasing and using materials in the production process to meet all applicable environmental and social responsibility requirements. The group will continue to review and reduce the impact of daily operations on the environment.