The company, which is the largest exporter and one of the largest employers in the country, is now using biodiesel B100 to power its fork-lift trucks, road vehicles and the boilers which heat its facility. B100 is produced entirely from recycled edible oil used in catering processes and contains no petroleum products. With a start-up cost of less than Lm400, the biodiesel programme is expected to save approximately Lm1,100 in fuel costs per year, thanks to lower consumption and fuel prices.
The real saving, however, is the dramatic reduction in the emissions of harmful gases and particulates that are present when normal petrodiesel is used.
The biodiesel is being supplied by the local Edible Oil Refining Group Co (EORC) that is using as the prime source waste material such as used cooking oil. This partnership is contributing to a win-win situation for the protection of the environment in Malta.
Commenting on the B100 scheme, STMicroelectronics corporate vice-president and director of total quality and environmental management Georges Auguste said: “This scheme is yet another positive demonstration of the environmental benefits that can easily be achieved, at zero cost, not only by ST but by other companies worldwide, when they really care about being environmentally friendly, and when they acknowledge people’s creativity and empowerment.”
ST has set high environmental goals alongside its more conventional business ambitions. As long ago as 1995 it defined and published its Environmental Decalogue, a ten-point roadmap of timed and quantifiable targets leading towards the ultimate goal of becoming environmentally neutral. The roadmap defines specific objectives for reducing consumption of energy, water and chemicals, and for reducing and limiting greenhouse gas emissions and waste.
In 2003 the company was judged Best Industrial Renewable Energy Partnership in the final year of the European Commission’s five-year Campaign for Take-Off competition. The prize was awarded in recognition of ST’s ambitious programme to obtain 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2010, and of its progress towards that target. All of ST’s manufacturing sites are EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) validated and ISO14001 certified – international standards for environmental management aimed at reducing environmental impact.
Commenting on this initiative, ST’s Malta facility managing director Gene Gretchen said: “We are delighted to actively support ST’s aggressive corporate sustainable development programmes. The biodiesel initiative is the latest in the series of environmental breakthroughs, which culminated in the Malta plant being recognised with the European Union Management Award for Sustainable Development.”
About Biodiesel B100
A study by the US Environment Protection Agency found that B100 (100 per cent biodiesel) reduced total unburned hydrocarbons by more than 65 per cent, carbon monoxide up to 48 per cent, and total particulate matter up to 47 per cent. Other research also shows that the ozone-forming potential of the hydrocarbon emissions from pure biodiesel is nearly 50 per cent less than that of petroleum-based fuel. Pure biodiesel contains no sulphur and therefore reduces sulphur dioxide exhausted from diesel engines that use it to virtually zero. PAH and nPAH compounds (identified as carcinogenic compounds) are also reduced drastically by 80 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively.
About STMicroelectronics Malta
The Kirkop plant in Malta, which has been in operation since 1981, is an assembly and test facility for the ST products that use the most advanced chip packages. In 2002, the plant received the Management Award for Sustainable Development as part of the European Awards for the Environment, organised by the European Commission Directorate-General Environment.
With more than 2,300 employees at the Kirkop site, STMicroelectronics is the largest private employer in Malta and a prominent member of the Maltese community and economy, providing 55 per cent of the country’s total domestic exports.