Sustainability

Environmental

Environmental Performance

There were several highlights of PPC's environmental performance during the review period:

Backfilling mined voids: The disposal of overburden waste rock by means of backfilling mined-out voids at the Beestekraal and Zoutkloof operations continued throughout the year. This has a threefold environmental benefit over the surface construction of waste rock dumps:

• The mining footprint is constrained by reducing surface overburden disposal
• The size of the pit is reduced, reducing the final void left after mining and the closure rehabilitation requirement
• Significantly lower diesel use due to reduced hauling and profiling requirements.

Beestekraal: to date approximately 3,ha has been backfilled to surface. The target is to backfill and profile 7,5ha to a depth of at least 30m from surface, reducing the void size from 39ha to 32ha.

De Hoek: 50% of the overburden stripped in the review period has been backfilled into the southern portion of the depleted Zoutkloof pit. In conjunction with profiling the northern perimeter of the pit, this has reduced the void area from 76,ha to approximately 67ha.

Reducing the visual impact of mining: The haul road on the western slope of the Zoutkloof overburden dump has been backfilled and is being rehabilitated back to agricultural use. The road was required to reduce the hauling distance to the overburden tipping areas. A similar exercise is planned for the Riebeeck overburden dump.

The removal of alien trees, profiling and natural revegetation of the PPC Mooiplaas northern overburden dump has reduced the visual impact of the dump significantly

Mine closure PPC has to date obtained closure certificates for four of its operations i.e. Lourie, Pienaar's River, Baroe Dump and Baroe Trend.

Financial provision for mine closure Full financial provision for mine closure rehabilitation was made in September 2008 by contributing to the PPC Rehabilitation Trust fund to cover the shortfall in provision for each operation.

Concurrent rehabilitation performance The percentage of concurrent rehabilitation completed at September 2008 was slightly down on the 2007 level of 94%. This was primarily due to an area of 22 hectares on the southern overburden dump at Beestekraal being included in the required concurrent rehabilitation area at the end of the three-year overburden stripping contract. The total concurrent rehabilitation backlog is currently 82 hectares of a total of 1 074, hectares.

Note: 2009 data is unavailable at the time of printing as figures are reflected as at September 2008 as the annual mine survey is conducted by aerial surveys flown at the financial year end.

Environmental compliance and incidents There were no fines issued to PPC. An emergency incident report required in terms of section 30(5) of the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) was lodged with the e Department of Environmental Affairs during September 2009. to be During the monthly reconciliation of diesel stocks at PPC Slurry, it was discovered that about 3509 Litres of diesel was unaccounted for during the month of August. An investigation was then conducted to trace the diesel and it was discovered that the underground transporting pipes were leaking. The area has since been rehabilitated and the transporting pipes have been moved to the surface to prevent reoccurrence.

Environmental non-conformances on site are managed through the ISO 14001/ASPASA EMS system, which involves recording , investigating and implementing remedial measures.

Protecting the Renosterveld at Riebeeck During a vegetation survey conducted as part of the environmental management programme report in 2000, the natural vegetation of a hill on the PPC Riebeeck property was identified as West Coast Renosterveld of the fynbos biome species. Because Renosterveld is one of the most endangered types of fynbos biome with less than 2% remaining in the province, every effort has been made to conserve it.

Given the risk that three hectares of Renosterveld area would be encroached by the advance of the current overburden dump, PPC constructed a long retaining wall between this habitat and the mining overburden dumps to act as a drainage system between the dump and the Renosterveld. The construction of a 12-metre high terramesh retaining wall started in June 2003 and was built in four phases, reaching a total height of almost 15 metres and extending for several hundred metres. The project was completed in March 2009, providing a protective barrier between the mining area and the Renosterveld habitat.

The - rock used to construct the wall was sourced from mining operations and deliberately packed to allow water to pass through but not silt. A geotextile filter membrane aids this filtering process, preventing silt from passing into the stream that runs between the Renosterveld hill and part of the mine. The wall was built to blend with the natural environment while ensuring that, in terms of materials and durability, it achieves its long-term purpose. The area adjacent to the wall was shaped to a final slope angle of 1:5 according to the rehabilitation schedule. This area will be covered with topsoil and vegetation introduced in 2010.

Some rare species found on site occur in this area, and at least six species of conservation concern were recorded, with a good probability of others remaining undetected. Of the six, four are listed as endangered:

• Leucadendron lanigerum ssp. Lanigerum: a small but significant population of this species occurs on this ridge.
• Babiana odorata is a Swartland endemic bulb. A small but significant population occurs on site, and is likely to be much more prominent in the years after a fire.
• Agathosma latipetala is an attractive white-flowered buchu restricted to the central and southern Swartland. The species is common in this patch, and can be regarded as a viable and significant population.
• Phylica thunbergiana is also a Swartland endemic. The species is common in this patch, and can be regarded as a viable and significant population.

The other two species have been listed as vulnerable:

• Muraltia trinervia. The species is common on site, and can be regarded as a viable and significant population of this primarily Swartland species.
• Antimima mucronata is a creeping vygie restricted to Swartland shales. The species is common in this patch, and this can be regarded as a viable and significant population.

Environmental Performance in 2009

In 2008 we said we would...	Progress in 2009
Identify best practices to be mentioned in PPC annual report	Major best practices developed for 2009 include: air quality management; Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) disclosure standards; stakeholder engagement; climate change management and reporting and incident reporting
Decrease energy consumption in line with PPC's energy efficiency accord targets	Energy consumption declined by 6% in the review period
Track non-renewable inputs of kilns even more closely	This is managed through the GRI reporting system. Replacements for natural materials are continually sourced by PPC. See section under Secondary Materials
Increase use of renewable materials as a thermal energy source by 5% by 2015, subject to environmental approvals	PPC has not been able to increase the use of renewable materials significantly due to continuing slow progress with developing legislation
Achieve a target for CO2 for clinker, lime and dolomite in 2009 of 1 000kg/ton. Note: this target only includes scope 1 emissions, ie direct emissions from the cement-production process which excludes CO2 emissions relating to electricity consumption	Through the internal auditing process, PPC has identified and corrected CO2 emission levels reported in previous annual reports to include both scope 1 and 2 emissions. PPC will continue to improve on the accuracy and transparency of the data reported through more rigorous assurance processes
Achieve a target for CO2 per ton of cement, lime and dolomite in 2009 of 850kg/ton. Note: this target only includes scope 1 emissions, ie direct emissions from the cement-production process which excludes CO2 emissions relating to electricity consumption	The scope 1 CO2 per ton of cement, lime and dolomite in 2009 was 863kg. The targets were not met due to delayed plans for increased cement extension processes
Ensure that all sites will undergo ecological (flora and fauna) and heritage impact assessments to further inform management efforts	In progress. Most sites are at 70% completion
Target is to have 100% completion of all reasonably possible concurrent rehabilitation	Good progress has been made at the Beestekraal, Dwaalboom and Riebeeck operations on outstanding rehabilitation tasks. Final assessment will be based on the September 2009 aerial survey
Target is to ensure ongoing adherence to the 100% concurrent rehabilitation goal, with particular focus on meeting specified environmental management plans	Management plans as set out in the environmental management plan (EMP) are implemented through the ISO 14001 system
Ensure that all plants will have updated water balances and water meters at strategic locations	In progress
Publish water-saving targets in the 2009 annual report	Due to the delay in finalising water balances for all plants, water-saving targets can not yet be determined
Summarise training modules and deliver it to all PPC staff and discuss it in environmental stakeholder forums. Maintain environmental legal compliance by facilitating required behavioural changes at PPC operations and increasing level of awareness about environmental matters	This has been implemented. External service provider appointed to roll out environmental training to all sites
Achieve zero non-compliance to conditions of all environmental authorisations by 2009	External legal audits have identified a few areas of non-compliance, however management plans have been drawn up to address these areas of concern
Ensure that all operations have formalised environmental forums and committees	All sites have established environmental stakeholder forums
Structure a complete stack-emission profile for cement and lime kilns	In progress
Set quantifiable targets for selected PPC environmental indicators	This has been undertaken. Targets for CO2 and energy use have been established
Continue to develop environmental and sustainability training modules for all levels	In progress
Develop and implement a PPC green procurement strategy	Completed – awaiting sign off
Achieve environmental compliance audits of 20% of major suppliers and customers	Completed
Compile an emissions inventory informed by mass balance and fugitive emission estimation for all PPC plants	In progress
Train every environmental specialist and manager in environmental best practices and standards	Ongoing
Create stakeholder maps and formalised environmental forums for each PPC operations	Undertaken at all sites
Entrench environmental framework objectives and recommendations throughout PPC	Ongoing
Continue to use Global Compact principles as important criteria for project selection and milestone evaluation	PPC continues to apply principles relating to responsible environmental management as per UN Global Compact