The company is committed to maximizing the use of renewable and circular materials to become a major player in the construction of new models of sustainable production
Cepsa has announced its new circular economy targets for 2030, advancing its ‘Positive Motion’ strategy to become a leader in sustainable mobility in Spain and Portugal and a benchmark in the energy transition. The company is committed to increasing the circularity of the waste from its operations by 50% by 2030 (compared to 2019), which means minimizing, recycling and recovering 8,000 tons in its major industrial centers in Andalusia.
This new commitment from Cepsa is one of the most ambitious in the energy sector, which the company will promote through the use of new technologies, the development of waste co-processing projects and the identification of synergies with other companies to promote industrial symbiosis.
Likewise, the company will benefit from its zero waste approach and industry knowledge to maximize the use of waste as a resource, through sustainable solutions; and it will gradually replace fossil resources in the products it sells, introducing renewable and recycled materials.
Mar Perrote, Cepsa HSEQ Director, stressed: “The circular economy commitments we are presenting today will enable us to move towards a zero-waste business model, developing more sustainable solutions: reducing the generation of waste in our operations and fostering industrial symbiosis to give a second life to previously discarded raw materials, these commitments will undoubtedly help us advance our Positive Motion strategy for 2030.”
The company’s new transformation strategy, launched in 2022, aims to support Cepsa’s customers in their decarbonization process. To do this, the company has set itself the ambitious goal of reducing the carbon intensity of its marketed products by 15% to 20% in this decade, as part of its roadmap to net zero emissions. In this sense, the circular economy is an important lever for Cepsa to achieve the objectives of its ‘Positive Motion’ strategy.
Cepsa will make maximum use of its own waste and that of third parties as raw material and give it a second life. An example of this is the company’s recent agreement with Aguas y Servicios del Campo de Gibraltar (Arcgisa), to promote circular economy actions impacting municipal waste. In concrete terms, this collaboration is aimed at the recovery and recovery of organic waste, used oils of household origin, biological sludge and other waste from the installations managed by Arcgisa.
Through this agreement, Cepsa will also produce green hydrogen from wastewater, avoiding discharge into the sea. It is a project that will be developed in the San Roque Energy Park (Cádiz), and that will have a very positive impact on the availability of drinking water. This demonstrates the company’s commitment to the goal it set last year of reducing freshwater withdrawals by 20% in water-scarce areas by 2025.
Gradually, the company will replace fossil raw materials with renewable and recycled resources. The company is committed to increasing the share of renewable and circular raw materials in its Energy Parks to 15% by 2030. This means using 2.8 million tonnes of raw materials in 2030, 75% of which will be second generation (2G) and other waste that would otherwise would be thrown away.
In addition, by 2030, Cepsa will lead the production of biofuels, such as renewable diesel and sustainable jet fuel (SAF), produced from second-generation raw materials (including organic waste, used cooking oil or agricultural waste).
An example of this kind of solution is the production of SAF from agricultural waste produced by Cepsa, with which more than 220 flights departed from Seville airport last December, avoiding the emission of more than 200 tons of CO2.
Cepsa has set up a circular economy working group in which all its divisions and business units participate, with the aim of promoting circularity, both in its activities and in its products. This includes the evaluation of new technologies and the implementation of waste co-processing projects and synergies with other companies to promote industrial symbiosis. Cepsa has been recognized for this leadership and in early 2023 received the ‘Key Innovator’ seal from the European Commission’s ‘Innovation Radar’ programme, in partnership with AIJU (Instituto Tecnológico de Producto Infantil y Ocio) and other companies and institutions.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
