Water

Protection and Restoration of Water Resources

The Company sees the significance of biodiversity and water resources management. Water is a vital resource for development and is crucial in supporting biodiversity and human life. Unfortunately, it is plagued with issues of scarcity, which lead to biodiversity loss and negatively impact nutrient cycles within soils, plant life and essential food crops.

These issues are interconnected and will assist in handling land erosion and the regulation of the quality and quantity of water. The conservation of water and biodiversity cannot be neglected. Therefore, we must adopt and emphasize best practices. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 proposed by the United Nations (UN) urges collective action toward ensuring clean water and sanitation security for all.

SCCC Group is committed to reducing specific water consumption by over 20 percent and increasing the use of surface water collection to over 45 percent by 2030, Using a water resources management scheme that is focused on efficiency, the Group has worked to reduce unnecessasry use of water during production processes. We are also constantly looking for new ways to manage water usage even more effectively and efficiently.

	Performance				Target
	2020 (Base)	2022	2023	2024	2030
Water Consumption (l/ton cem)	301	241	260	245	240
Surface Water Usage (%)	2	43	38	37.5	45

Remarks: The disclosed information includes the Group's cement segment, domestic and international, which includes Siam City Cement Public Company Limited, Siam City Cement (Vietnam) Limited, Siam City Cement (Bangladesh) Limited, and Siam City Cement (Lanka) Limited, and the waste heat power generation business which includes Siam City Power Company Limited. Including the joint venture company, Chip Mong Insee Cement Corporation.

Strategy

Reduce unnecessary water losses throughout the production process.

Continuously identify opportunities to improve water-use efficiency.

Operate in accordance with the guidelines and tools provided by the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA).

Strengthen efforts to increase surface water capture to enhance water security.

Approaches to Water Resources Management

The Group is acutely aware of the importance of water resources, expecially amidst the ongoing climate challenges. Each site has a water action plan. Among site specific actions, it consists of more general initiatives such as systematic measurement of our water consumption to ensure water conservation. To identify and track potential water loss as well as opportunities to optimize water consumption such as increasing equipment cooling efficiency, regular water balances are conducted by using the GCCA guideline and tools. Moreover, we keep collecting surface water by building more reservoirs (ponds and quarry dewatering) to ensure sufficient water supply for continuous operation. This also serves to maintain and reduce usage of groundwater, which is in line with the Group’s 2030 Sustainability Ambition.

The Company has appointed a Water Management Committee to oversee, supervise, and drive the implementation of water management activities at Saraburi operations. The Water Management Commitee’s responsibilities include the below processes:

Review and develop a Water Diagram.
Inspect and analyze the Water Balance.
Survey water meters and pipelines, and compile a Water Meter List.
Verify the accuracy of water meters and update relevant records.
Test and validate meter functionality, and repair or replace faulty meters.
Identify water leakage points and develop maintenance plans for critical areas.

The above are regularly analyzed for continuous improvement of water management enhancement plans, and are part of the push towards introduction of processes that promote recycling and usage reduction of groundwater. These work processes are consistently monitored and improved upon, to guarantee alignment with our sustainability goals.

The Company’s focus is on environmentally responsible operation, and to this end we operate in strict compliance with the relevant laws and water quality standards. Wastewater treatment systems are regularly inspected, as is the quality of wastewater output by such systems, to ensure they meet global standards. All business units of the Group are in complete alignment with the Sustainability Guidelines of the Global Cement and Concrete Association: GCCA,) with water usage regularly tracked and water usage reports covering key indicators in a consistent manner. In particular, water usage for our operation in Saraburi is independently monitored and verified by Kasetsart University through the carbon footprint assessment process as dictated by the regulations for ready-mix cement products of the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization.)

You can find more details on water-related operations in the SD Performance Index 2024 https://siamcitycement.com/en/esg/-esg-publications and ESG Data Report https://investor.siamcitycement.com/storage/content/downloads/one-report/2024/20250502-sccc-esg-2024-en.pdf

Performance and Outlook

Important Projects

The Group is well aware of the importance of efficient and sustainable water resources management to prepare for water quality and climate challenges in various areas, which can directly affect operation costs. The Group, as such, has adopted a systematic water risk assessment and management scheme, which tracks all relevant costs, such as expenses for reserve water procurement, water treatment, reservoir maintenance, and compliance to relevant laws and regulations. The Group has worked towards reducing water risks and enhancing long term water flexibility through investment in various water management systems, such as the water metering system improvement project for improved accuracy and efficiency in assessing water usage, the waste heat recovery (WHR) water recycling system, and retention and usage of rainwater in production processes.

Water metering system improvement – The Group has invested in improving the water metering system, adopting the variable speed drive (VSD) for improved water circulation and reduced leakage. A smartphone application has also been developed for water meter recording, which helps with accurate tracking of water usage and ease of use. This allows for systematic, efficient water resources usage tracking with high accuracy.
Plant water leakage monitoring project – The Group has initiated an ongoing activity to detect water leakage in plants, with all employees and contractors welcome to participate in inspecting and reporting leakages in operation areas, to encourage timely reporting of malfunctions and swift addressing of such, while also encouraging efficient use of water resources and operation cost reduction. The activity covers the cement business of the Group, both domestic and overseas.
Ground water reservoirs - The Group has constructed two reservoirs for surface water reserving various areas, including 2 reservoirs in Saraburi, one being an open pit with a capacity of 200,000cbm, and another a P8 reservoir with a capacity of 25,000cbm. Two reservoirs are in Vietnam, one in the Cat Lai Port area, and one in the Hiep Phuoc plant area. One reservoir is in Sri Lanka, being located in the Puttalam plant area. Surface water in said reservoirs are used in pollution control processes as well as temperature control during production, which aligns with out goal to reduce reliance on groundwater, per our 2030 Sustainability Ambition, which aims to use surface water for as much as more than 45% of the processes.
Zero Discharge project – The Group prioritizes comprehensive wastewater management, with water used in production processes within the Company’s operation area being treated before being reused in entirety, resulting in zero wastewater reaching external water reserves. For our operation in Vietnam, the waste heat receovery (WHR) system is used in the Hon Chong plant, with 10,000cbm – 15,000cbm of wastewater being treated and reused annually. Such water is also used, after treatment, in the Hon Chong plant, and the Cat Lai port as part of the operation of the Company’s other businesses.