CEPSA IS AWARDED FOR ITS DETAL PROJECT AT THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS

The award was received by Paloma Alonso, director of the Chemical division, in the presence of HM the King and the Fourth Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera
The Puente Mayorga Chemical Plant’s project was one of 25 projects preselected by the Ministry of Ecological Transition from among the 115 candidates in Spain
Cepsa, world leader in manufacturing raw material to produce biodegradable detergents, invests €100 million in this technological innovation project
This is a project that will reduce the amount of waste generated by the plant while improving its sustainability through a drastic reduction in emissions and consumption of raw materials
Cepsa has been recognized by the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MITECO) in the Spain section of the European Business Awards for the Environment for its project of installing Detal technology in the Puente Mayorga Chemical Plant, located in San Roque (Cadiz). Paloma Alonso, director of the Company’s Chemical and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) division, received this award today in Madrid during a ceremony presided by King Felipe VI and attended by the Fourth Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, as well as several authorities from MITECO.

Cepsa’s project won in the Process category, which recognizes innovative solutions in processes and production methods that contribute to sustainable development.

The awarded technology is an innovative idea conceived and developed by Cepsa, in collaboration with UOP (Universal Oil Products), which will improve the industrial center’s energy efficiency while drastically reducing its emissions and consumption of natural gas, electricity and raw materials; in addition, this is a circular economy project that will greatly reduce generated waste. Likewise, this technology will lead to increased process safety and improved quality and variety of linear alkylbenzene (LAB), the base of most biodegradable detergents, which the company produces at this facility.

The implementation of this technology in the Puente Mayorga Chemical Plant is an example of innovation and sustainability, as it is the first LAB production plant in the world to switch its hydrofluoric acid-based process to Detal technology.

Cepsa has invested €100 million into this technological innovation project that also aims at reducing its environmental footprint. In addition, the project will create around 250 jobs in Campo de Gibraltar during the construction of this unit, with peaks of up to 600. It also entails increasing the plant’s production capacity to 250,000 tons (a 25% increase) , thereby helping Cepsa, from Andalusia, maintain its position as global leader, with a 15% market share. The project’s excellence has also earned it the 2019 Andalusia Industry Development Award from the College of Industrial Engineers of Western Andalusia, at its fifth edition of the ceremony.

Cepsa’s Chemical and ESG Division Director, Paloma Alonso, says that this award “is an acknowledgement of the team and its innovation, which helps us maintain our position as technological and environmental leaders for this chemical, which is essential to producing biodegradable detergents. It is also a show of our potential to our clients, as all our effort in the daily search for solutions that lower our carbon footprint are for them. Thanks to this award, we can share a new production path for all the world’s biodegradable detergents, making them more efficient and better for the planet.”

The European Commission has held these awards since 1987 as a way to recognize those companies that successfully combine the financial sustainability of their business with environmental protection. The awards recognize companies that have excelled in improving their environmental performance through sustainable innovations in management, products and services, processes, or activities compatible with biodiversity. For the winning companies, they represent an important recognition from society and from the world of business and sustainability.

Cepsa and Petrochemicals

Cepsa, in its Puente Mayorga Chemical Plant, located in San Roque (Cadiz), manufactures linear alkylbenzene (LAB) and paraffins– raw material for the cosmetic and food industry. Similarly, the Palos Chemical Plant, located in Palos de la Frontera (Huelva), produces methylamines and their derivatives (dimethylformamide and dimethylacetamide), in addition to other basic petrochemical products such as cumene, phenol, acetone and alpha-methylstyrene. The products manufactured in Palos serve as raw materials for protective screens used in public buildings, thermometers, insulation, and active drug ingredients, among others. Both plants use 100% renewable electricity, supplied by Cepsa’s Gas and Electricity division.

Thanks to its chemical plants in Andalusia, and those the company has in Canada, Brazil and China, Cepsa is the world’s leading producer of LAB and cumene, and the second of phenol and acetone. Cepsa also produces vegetable-based alcohols in its plants in Germany and Indonesia.