Quality, Environment, Safety

The Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością Integrated Management System is the continuation of the systems being built from 1993 onwards by what was then the Oświęcim Chemical Plant.

System incorporating Synthos S.A. and Synthos Dwory sp. z o.o., holding certificates of conformity with the PN-EN ISO 9001, PN-EN ISO 14001 oraz PN-EN ISO 45001 standards.

Following numerous modifications, some statutory and some made in the continuing search for improvement, as well as the transformation of the Company itself, those systems now form part of the Corporate Integrated Management

At Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością  environmental management is the result of the company’s implementation of a long-term and ongoing policy for reducing environmental impact. The effect of this programme was confirmed as early as 2001 by an accredited external body, when the company’s Environmental Management System was awarded the certificate of conformity with the ISO 14001 standards.

The principal concept underlying environmental management is based on the concentration of effort and resources on preventing pollution from occurring. Only in situations where its rational elimination is unattainable are efforts to minimise the environmental impact by means of recycling or, if all else fails, by neutralisation, then employed. At Synthos S.A., implementing this policy means the acquisition of new technologies, applying environmentally friendly solutions. Where older technological solutions are still in use, we invest in equipment to safeguard the environment. The disposal of emissions which are impossible to eliminate or neutralise at source, such as effluents or specific waste products, is commissioned from external specialist organisations. All pollutants released into the atmosphere are minimised to an extent whereby they do not exceed the acceptable reference values beyond the industrial area and we make every effort to limit even that impact.

Sources of pollution:

Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością focuses on the manufacture of:

synthetic rubbers (KER®)and latex
styrene materials (Owipian®, Owispol®)
vinyl and copolymer dispersions (Winacet®, Osakryl®)

These products are manufactured at four production plants:

the monomers preparation and styrene plant,
the styrene materials manufacturing plant
the polyacetate and copolymer plant,
the synthetic rubbers and latex manufacturing plant

The additional , fifth plant is the fuel combustion plant, supplies the Company with fuel.

The basic raw materials employed by the company are ethylbenzene, butadiene and pentane, while the chemical processes are based on polymerisation. The main air pollutants emitted by such a manufacturing profile, i.e. styrene or aliphatic hydrocarbons, are reduced to a significant extent by means of catalytic combustion and other equipment safeguarding the environment.

The impact of effluents on the water environment is dealt with by first subjecting the wastewater to preliminary treatment by means of traps and neutralisers etc. at the plants themselves. The wastewater is then directed to the Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is treated to attain the standards stipulated by law.

Depending on their nature, waste products are consigned to authorised recipients, with the preferred form of neutralisation being recycling.

The numerous pro-ecological development projects implemented by the Company since the 1990s provide evidence of its commitment to environmental protection:

In 1994, the Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant went into commission. As a result, the company is able to discharge treated wastewater from industrial and municipal sources in the city of Oświęcim and neighbouring communes into the Macocha river and from there, into the Wisła. Construction costs for the treatment plant amounted to PLN 30 million.

In 1997-98, production of trichlorethyl, vinyl acetate, carbide and acetylene at Synthos was discontinued, making the company’s manufacturing processes cleaner and environmentally safer. As the new styrene plant went into service, the existing plant, operating on the basis of old technology, was closed. The co-generation plant providing the city and the company with both electricity and heat was fitted with electro filters with an efficiency level of 99%, leading to a significant reduction in the particulates generated during the combustion process.

In 2007, the production of chlorine based on the mercurial electrolysis method was decommissioned. This way, the harmful effects of the hazardous substance – mercury were eliminated.

In 1998, a modern installation for the catalytic combustion of gases from synthetic rubber produciotn plant was installed (REGENOX plant) . Currently a new, more efficient combustion unit is designed here. Its launch is scheduled for 1st half of 2013.
New installations, such as the one for production of extruded polystyrene plates (XPS) from 2008, are being technologically adopted to the environmental requirements at the design level of the project. To operate, we must comply with the required EU Directives, which are currently being implemented in the Polish law. This creates a modern, ecological product.

Entering into further investment activities Synthos pursues a similar principle.

The company’s most recent eco-friendly activities. A brief history.:

1. The modernisation and expansion of the co-generation plant (1994)
2. The building of the Municipal and Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant (1994)
3. The elimination of vinyl chloride, chloride, benzene, acetylene, methanol, and vinyl and methyl acetate emissions exceeding the norms (1992-98)
4. A REGENOX catalytic combustion installation for the treatment of gasses released by the convection drying of rubber is installed (1998)
5. The replacement of the steam purge mufflers at the power plant station begins, with a view to curtailing noise pollution (2000)
6. The replacement of the burners at the power plant boilers with low emission burners begins (2000)
7. The company is awarded the Environmental Management System certificate of conformity with the ISO 14001 standards (2001)
8. The extension of the piezometer network, measuring soil and oil water quality on company land (2002)
9. The company is removed from the List of 80, a list of the most environmentally damaging industrial plants in Poland (2002)
10. The management of hazardous substances, i.e. asbestos and PCBs, and controlled substances (depleting the ozone layer) is brought into compliance (2004)
11. IPPC Integrated Licences are obtained for 7 plants (2006)
12. Authorisation to discharge post-cooling waters and rainwater into the River Wisła, via the ‘Cascade’ is obtained (January 2007)
13. Disconnection of the environmentally hazardous mercury based installation for chlorine production (2007)
14. Elimination of Integrated Permit for Chlorine Production Installation – including the fulfillment of all conditions of this extinguishment imposed by the Marshal’s Office in Cracow (the last stage – dismantling and managing scrap and securing the objects took place in the 1st quarter of 2009)
15. New installation of the XPS production – from its design stage (in 2008) it meets the strict legal requirements for environmental impact. In the following years (2010, 2011, 2012) even more environmentally friendly technological solutions for the production of XPS panels were introduced.
16. Replacement of the device emitting free organic compounds in off-gases emitted from the SBR rubber production to a device with twice as much efficiency. Maintenance of VOC content below 20 mg / m3, reduction of unorganized emissions in 2013.
17. Installation of a post-cooling and rain water quality monitoring system, with the possibility of their emergency pumping to the chemically contaminated sewage system in 2014
18. Replacement of tubular-tube condensers and piston compressors to zero-emission screw compressors in an ammonia production plant to reduce ammonia losses and emission – 2013-2016
19. Building a device reducing the emission of free organic compounds in off-gases emitted from the production of solvent rubber SSBR. Reduction of VOC content to less than 20 mg / m3 – 2016.
20. Construction of a 115 MWt fluidized bed boiler with capacity of 140 t/h to reduce emissions to NOx (200 mg / m3), SO2 (200 mg / m3) and dust (10 mg / m3) – 2016.
21. Construction of a flue gas desulphurisation and denitrogenation plant to reduce SO2 and NOx emissions to the required levels of 200 mg / m3 – 2016

Currently, the most crucial composite document defining the environmental requirements under which Synthos Dwory S.A. may operate its plants is the IPPC. As early as 2003, work began on preparing the company’s application . Eventually, Licenses for all functioning installations were received in 2006, and in 2011 the licensing office (the Marshall Office in Krakow) subjected them to periodic analysis required by law.

Additionally the Voivodeship Environmental Protection Inspectorate audits the compliance with legal requirements as well as the provisions of individual Licenses. The plant is inspected at least once a year.

The restrictions imposed on the Company’s environmental impact, as set out under the Licences and directly under the relevant legislation, require unceasing control. In addition, the company has determined a number of in-house requirements to be met as regards operations which have an environmental impact, in order to be able to fulfil external requirements.

Direct controls are exercised in terms of individual environmental features, covering air and soil pollution and wastewater quality. Tests are carried out in our in-house environmental laboratory on the basis of measurements taken. Waste products are also subjected to a qualitative study, with a view to determining the proper method for dealing with them. In addition, there are permanent emission measurement points in operation on company premises, by means of which the company’s impact on air pollution is controlled as well as network of piezometers for the assessment of possible impact on the groundwater quality.

Occupational Safety and Health Management System

Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością operates an Occupational Safety and Health Management System complying with the requirements of the PN-N 18001 standards and certified by TÜV NORD Polska Sp. z o.o. It is one of the elements making up the Integrated Management system, which also incorporates Quality and Environmental Management.

Operating within our overall structure, the unit run by the company’s Head of OSHA carries out tasks relating to the supervision of working conditions, fire prevention, process safety and the implementation of statutory requirements, i.e. the ATEX Directives and the Machinery Directives.

Our systemic approach to OSHA issues enables us to guarantee the high degree of safety in technological processes and in the protection of our employees’ lives and health which forms one of the company’s most fundamental objectives.
This objective is achieved by means of assuring the appropriate level of technical safety resources, i.e. extinguishing equipment and installations, explosive and toxic concentration detectors and control and measuring apparatuses, constituting a multilayered safety system. Safety-related issues are given full consideration at both the design stage and when a plant is decommissioned.

According to the current legal regulations, tests and measurements of harmful factors at the workplace may be performed only by laboratories which have obtained accreditation in this field. Synthos Dwory 7 Environmental Laboratory Sp. z o.o., Sp. j. has such accreditation – it was granted on 15.04.2010. Accredited activity is defined in Accreditation Range No. AB 1168 (link to PCA site Akredytowane podmioty \ Akredytacje aktywne \ Laboratoria badawcze \ Polskie Centrum Akredytacji (PCA)). The AB 1168 Certificate of Laboratory Accreditation certifies that the Environmental Laboratory meets the requirements of the current edition of PN-EN ISO / IEC 17025 norm.

Preventing serious accidents: process safety

Given the quantity of hazardous substances which are held in storage at its plants, the company has been classified as a high risk facility in terms of the potential for a serious industrial accident. As a result of receiving this classification, a series of documents were drawn up, as stipulated under the Act on Environmental Protection, namely Programme For The Prevention of Accidents, Safety Report and Internal Plan for Rescue Operations.

These documents have received a positive opinion from the Commander of the Voivodship’s State Fire Brigade and the Voivodship Environmental Protection Inspector.

               

In the eventuality that an industrial accident occurs, the company commands a Factory Rescue Service and a Chemical Rescue Reserve Force, recruited from company employees and charged with extinguishing fires and minimising the consequences of the accident.

The REACH Regulation (1907/2006) is one of the most important EU legal acts regulating the rules for production and marketing of chemical substances and mixtures. Implementation of its provisions is progressing gradually from 1 June 1 2007. REACH aims to ensure a high level of health and environmental protection and promote alternative methods of risk assessment of substances, and ensure the free circulation of substances on the EU internal market while enhancing competitiveness and innovation.

Pursuant to the provisions of REACH Regulations, Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością is a manufacturer, importer and downstream user of chemical substances and mixtures, as well as a manufacturer of products. The company is working on an ongoing basis to ensure that all obligations related to these roles are met on time and with due diligence.

Prior to 1 December, 2008 the Company made a pre-registration of all manufactured and imported substances for which registration was required pursuant to the provisions of the regulation.

Before 1 December 2010 the Company obtained the decisions of the European Chemicals Agency regarding the registration of all substances manufactured and imported by Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością spółka jawna for which the appropriate registration deadline expired on 1 December 2010.

In addition, since 1 December 2010, the substances delivered to customers by Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością are classified and marked in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP). Mixtures produced by the Company will be classified and marked in accordance with the above provisions before 1 June 2015.

Additionally, beginning of 1 December 2010 the Company provides its customers with material safety data sheets prepared in accordance with the requirements of Commission Regulation (EU) No. 453/2010.

Information on registration numbers of substances registered by Synthos Dwory 7 spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością, as well as the applications of identified substances and mixtures marketed by the Company are available in their respective material safety data sheets.

For additional information on REACH Regulation, please call us at +48 33 847 28 59, or email us at:
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