Waste Management
Waste Management
Significance & Commitment
Waste, especially hazardous waste, is a significant focus for the Company as improper handling can pose serious risks to the environment, employee health, corporate reputation, and license to operate. Recognizing these risks, the Company is committed to preventing and minimizing waste impacts by improving process efficiency, applying industry best practices and advanced technology, and ensuring strict compliance with laws and regulations.
Management Approach
The Company strictly follows the waste management hierarchy: prevention & minimization, reuse, recycling, other recovery operations, and disposal. Our waste management policy and standard, developed in line with international best practices and local regulations, serve as the foundation for implementation across all operations, focusing on maximizing resource utilization, minimizing waste directed to disposal, and reducing environmental impacts from incineration or landfilling.
Waste management standard is structured into 5 steps, including:
Planning: Identify sources of waste and assess their hazardous characteristics. Define appropriate management methods and evaluate opportunities for waste prevention, minimization, reuse, recycling, and other recovery operations.
Storage: Ensure that waste is stored in designated, well-maintained facilities. Regular inspections are conducted to uphold safety and environmental standards.
Transportation: Implement proper waste handling protocols and maintain full traceability throughout all stages of transportation to ensure safe and lawful movement of waste materials.
Treatment & Disposal: Maximize waste reuse, recycling, and other recovery operations. When disposal is necessary, use environmentally friendly methods and appropriate technologies to minimize impact.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting: Continuously monitor and assess waste management performance to ensure compliance with applicable standards.
For externally managed waste, the Company engages only government-authorized agencies to ensure compliance with the least environmental impact in waste transportation and disposal.
The Company develops the waste process flow that maps waste generation across the value chain: upstream, own operations, and downstream. This mapping identifies waste generation points and enables strategic planning to enhance circularity measures by identifying opportunities for waste prevention.
Internal waste volumes are systematically measured, while external waste volumes are recorded through third-party reports to uphold transparency and accountability. This comprehensive approach reinforces the Company’s commitment to sustainable waste management and environmental stewardship.
Business
Hazardous waste
Non-Hazardous waste
Used lubricant
Coolants
Used battery
Contaminated container
Laboratory waste
Transformer
Electronic waste
Solar panel
Organic waste
General waste
Ash
Synthetic gypsum
Mining
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Thermal Power
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Gas
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Renewable Power
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Solar Rooftop & Floating
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Energy Storage System
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Mineral Waste
Mineral waste generated from mining operations, including overburden, waste rock, and tailings, can cause significant environmental risks to soil and water if improperly managed. The Company has developed and implemented a dedicated risk assessment and waste management standard specific to mineral waste to prevent and minimize impacts. The standard covers the full lifecycle from pre-mining through the post-mining stages.
In the event of a tailings spill incident, sites are required to immediately activate spill response and emergency plans. Additionally, all incidents are reported and investigated following established procedures under environmental incident classification protocols to ensure timely mitigation and continuous improvement.
Overburden
The Company integrates an overburden management plan with the mine plan for each specific mine. Since the pre-mining stage, the geological survey has been performed to determine the geochemistry of overburden and to create a geological model with aims to minimize amount of overburden removal and maximize in-pit backfilling.
Tailings
Tailings management plan is developed for each operation by applying a risk-based approach, throughout their entire life, from the location selection in pre-mining stage to the reclamation in mine closure stage. In Australia, the Reject Emplacement Area (REA) Oversight Committee has been appointed to carry out the standard and audit process. All tailings storage facilities are designed and inspected regularly by external experts, as well as the tailings management plans that are periodically reviewed especially when there are significant changes in the mining plans.
Acid Mine Drainage Management
The acid mine drainage management procedure has been developed and used as a Company’s framework with several preventive measures. The acid mine drainage is one of the key issues discussed in the mine planning review meeting to ensure its efficiency. Where acid mine water exists, water quality must be well treated prior to discharge to the environment or the mine closed.
Year in Review
In 2024, the Company strengthened waste management efforts by updating the Waste Policy and related manuals, as well as implementing several initiatives to improve efficiency. Key improvements included enhanced non-hazardous waste management in Indonesia to address significant waste impacts, renovation of slag handling system in China to boost resource recovery, and developing a process flow for underground mining operations in Australia to strengthen internal waste management and improve data collection accuracy. Additionally, new waste reduction targets for thermal power business in the U.S. were set.
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