Bestway Cement Limited (BCL), Pakistan’s Largest Cement Manufacturer, has once again been acknowledged and valued for its vision and continuous implementation of environment friendly policies at all of its four plants in Hattar, Farooqia, Chakwal and Kallar Kahar; at the 18th Annual Environment Excellence Awards 2021 organised by National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) in Karachi.
Bestway Cement reputes itself as a responsible corporate citizen and gives highest priority to protecting and creating a healthier environment for not only its own employees, but also for it’s communities where the Company has established its four plants. The wellbeing of the social environment in which Bestway operates is considered an integral part of the Company’s success.
Building on the legacy of being an environmentally conscious Company, Bestway Cement has signed contracts for setting up 51 MWs off-grid solar power plants at all of it’s production facilities. This is, by far the largest solar power initiative undertaken by any manufacturing company not only in the country but also in the region. The first of these solar power plants having capacity of 14.36 MWs commenced power generation at the Farooqia plant in June 2021. Moreover, the second solar power plant at Chakwal having capacity of 15.21 MWs has also commenced power generation as at reporting date. The solar power generation will not only reduce the Company’s reliance on the national grid further but also significantly reduce its carbon footprint. Once all the solar plants have been commissioned the energy generated will cut around the equivalent of 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over the life of the project, which is equal to plantation of approximately 2.1 million trees.
Furthermore, it is a leader in water conservation by being the first ones in the country to employ the Air Cooled Condenser (ACC) Systems instead of the conventional water cooled systems. Bestway is also the only one to start rain harvesting through construction of big rain harvesting reservoirs in order to reduced dependency on underground water.
Bestway is pioneer in establishing Pakistan’s first Waste Heat Recovery Power Plant (WHRPP) at a cost of US$47 million. It is one of the only companies in the industry with WHRPP efficiently working at all of its plants reducing dependency on the National Grid.
Bestway Cement plants are ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System (EMS) certified. The Company ensures that its plants continue to comply with established environmental quality standards at all times. The plants not only meet the stringent environmental quality standards prescribed by the relevant Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Pakistan but also voluntary adherence to the more stringent international emission standards. This has been achieved through including environmental considerations in the design basis of all plants and ancillaries.
Bestway is the only market player in the cement industry which has a dedicated environment department lead by and consisting of experienced environmental resources. This department has been assigned the task to make sure that the operations of BCL are not only within the applicable national environmental quality standards but also complies with international standards.
Bestway’s plants follow a comprehensive plan to keep their plants green with extensive annual plantation while having thousands of olive, citrus and other fruit plants in their orchards at each plant.
