Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) highlighted its environmental protection and sustainability practices at the 8th Symposium and Exhibition on Environmental Progress in the Petroleum and Petrochemical Industry (PetroEnvironment), which was held in Dammam from Feb 22 -24.

Saudi Arabia supported the event, which was held under the aegis of of Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif.

Ziad Al-Labban, CEO of Sadara, claimed as the world’s largest plastics and chemicals complex built in a single phase, gave the opening remarks to the upstream and downstream industry leaders at the event’s opening ceremony, and discussed how the company’s sustainability strategy is embedded in all facets of operation and business plans.

“When complete, we’ll be the fourth largest company in the Kingdom in terms of assets. As a company of our size and scale, we are well aware that we have obligations and roles to play as a responsible corporate citizen. We also recognize that without an enabling sustainability culture, any gains that we have are going to be temporary,” Al-Labban said.

“Our mantra of being a game-changer is embedded in literally all facets of operations and business plans. Our sustainability strategy supports our aim to produce differentiated, value-added chemicals and plastics products in the region, and ultimately contribute to the Kingdom’s move toward downstream manufacturing and further economic diversification,” Al-Labban added. Al-Labban noted that over 440 million man hours of work have been put into the $ 20 billion project to date, with a total recordable incident rate (TRIR) of 0.034, thereby setting a new world standard in safety.

An active participant and signatory in Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association’s (GPCA) Responsible Care Committee, Sadara went beyond the legal and regulatory requirement minimums in everything from design and engineering to construction of the six square kilometer 26-unit manufacturing complex and the adjacent PlastChem Park.

Moreover, the company established a dedicated sustainability organization to develop and implement a strategic sustainability plan for Sadara to optimize resource utilization and minimize operational costs and impact on the environment.