We are committed to the highest standards of environment performance and we plan to all but eliminate our operational carbon emissions.
Regular reporting of all material environmental impacts is undertaken and provided quarterly and annually to the Environment Agency. This delivers compliance with the permits which have been granted to us under the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations.
Our Health, Safety & Environment Management System ensures that effective management of health, safety, environment and major accident hazards is undertaken in a systematic way with appropriate governance structures in place. It supports all our colleagues having clearly defined and unambiguous accountabilities that must be met to achieve our objectives.
The Management System has been accredited to ISO 14001 and ISO9001 since 1999.
In our annual report , we provide comprehensive reporting to meet the requirements of the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regulations.
The reporting framework was introduced from April 2019 to encourage the implementation of measures to reduce emissions reduction and requires us to report on carbon emissions, energy consumption and energy efficiency.
We are committed to significantly removing our carbon emissions, and you can read our roadmap to decarbonisation here.
We report on water and wastewater use and management on a quarterly and annual basis to the Environmental Agency. We have a well-established understanding of the environmental issues relating to water use and disposal. Some examples of this include:
The refinery’s processes use water from several sources. Water usage on site is monitored and reported as part of the environmental permitting requirements. Where possible water is recycled within the refinery processes to minimise freshwater usage. New projects on site consider minimisation of freshwater use as a part of the design process.
Wastewater on site is monitored for quantity and quality and reported as part of the environmental permitting requirements. The Group has commissioned a multi-million pound project to route some of the wastewater to the United Utilities Ellesmere Port Waste Water Treatment works, where it will be further treated to reduce the environmental impact. This is already showing noticeable improvements to wastewater emissions to water courses from site.
We have operating practices in place to minimise waste and to recycle waste materials back into production processes where possible. The site includes an Energy Recovery Plant which generates energy from oil containing waste streams.
All office or household waste is collected by a specialist recovery group who again seek to maximise opportunities for recycling and reuse of materials. This approach to waste management is regulated by the Environment Agency.
Located between Stanlow Manufacturing Complex and the M56 motorway, Gowy Meadows hosts a wealth of biodiversity. Owned by EET Fuels and managed on our behalf by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust, the site represents a large-scale core site for nature.
At over 160 hectares, it is one of the Trust’s larger nature reserves and hosts an extensive network of wildlife rich ditches and hedgerows, wet grassland, ponds and scrapes; all forming part of the flood plain grazing marsh habitat mosaic that covers the majority of the site. The site has over 4km of paths and is open all-year round with activities provided by Cheshire Wildlife Trust staff and their volunteers.
The Group is currently developing its biodiversity net gain strategy, working in partnership with our local authority (Cheshire West and Chester Council) and with local charities.
Working with Cheshire West and Chester Council and the Environment Agency we have successfully delivered significant improvements to local air quality. An air quality action plan had been introduced in 2016 and monitoring stations were located in local villages. Since then, air quality incidents have been all but eliminated and there have been no exceedances of the public health limits since 2019. This is a result of significant process improvements that have been made to reduce sulphur emissions. We continue to work with our partners to identify further improvement opportunities, including trialling approaches to remove sulphur. Investments in decarbonisation technologies will further improve performance.
At EET Fuels, we are committed to improving processes and technology to reduce flaring. Our goal is to enhance the recovery and reprocessing of excess materials, thereby minimising the need for flaring.
Flares are essential safety devices in refining and petrochemical processes, used to ensure process units do not exceed safety limits. While their use is minimised, flaring can occur during unplanned interruptions, scheduled downtime, and start-ups or shutdowns.
To avoid releasing gases directly into the atmosphere, excess gas is burned in a controlled, environmentally effective manner. A pilot light at the top of each flare burns continuously, ensuring the flare is always ready. Gases are combined with steam and burned off to ensure maximum combustion and minimise emissions. The use of steam can occasionally cause a rumbling sound, which is normal and not a cause for concern.
Flare systems are continuously tracked and monitored to ensure safe operation and minimise environmental impact on the surrounding area.
Why do we have stacks? Most emissions come from our stacks, the tall chimneys around our site. These stacks release flue gases from furnaces used to heat crude oil or fuel components to produce LPG, petrol, kerosene, diesel, and marine shipping fuel.
What do we burn? Our furnaces burn a combination of natural gas, LPG, hydrogen, and a liquid fuel similar to marine shipping fuel. The fuels we use are listed in our Environmental Permit, and any changes must be approved by the Environment Agency.
How do we measure our emissions? – The Environment Agency has identified priority pollutants for air quality. Our site’s Environmental Permit contains limits for stack emissions, which are continuously monitored and reported to the Environment Agency. Any exceedances must be reported within 24 hours.