Green agenda
The Green Agenda is Swedspan's five-year sustainable activity plan aimed to take leadership among group companies not only in technologies, but also in environmental protection across Europe. The agenda sets out principles of work organisation that guarantee successful operation without a negative impact on environment. An environmental audit has shown that Swedspan Girių Bizonas is the leader among Swedspan group companies by environmental and safety at work criteria.

Reconstruction
The company carries out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which is one of the key principles of the Green Agenda, to install a new biofuel boiler plant of 82 MW capacity. Currently, the thermal energy necessary for production is generated by gas. The new biofuel plant will allow the company not only to abandon the increasingly expensive import of natural gas, but also to enhance competitiveness, use wood and production waste more effectively. Preliminary estimates project a possibility of supplying excess heat energy produced by the new biofuel plant to the town of Kazlų Rūda," the company's Managing Director Regina Zasienė said.

Modelling of processes
It is very important that the transition towards biofuel heating is smooth, thus, the company aims to use not only a cheaper and more environment-friendly fuel, but also make use of every opportunity to optimise all activities of the company. For this purpose, Swedspan Girių Bizonas cooperates with the specialists of the parent company Swedspan and project partners from SWECO Lietuva to analyse the possible impact of both the projected and present activities on environment.

Ambient air pollution is among the key issues in the project, thus, all stationary and mobile ambient air pollution sources and their emissions are under rigorous scrutiny. A special computer programme models pollutant dispersion in the environment under the most unfavourable scenario (the worst weather conditions when the company is fully operational). This procedure is carried out after an additional inventory of the company's existing air pollution sources and direct emission measurements.

Openness to the public
As the EIA programme for the construction and operation of the biofuel plant of Swedspan Girių Bizonas was approved in June, the EIA report will soon be presented in public. The publishing of the report and the programme will not be limited to statutory publicity in the press only. The entire information will be available on the internet, the company's website and the main portals informing the community of Kazlų Rūda will have links to the report on the environmental impact assessment of the biofuel plant. We seek that our choice of the best, safest and environment-friendly solution would leave no doubt.

Today we are not the same company as we were twenty, fifteen or ten years ago. We are working under different standards now. Our neighbourhood includes conscious and civic-minded town residents, so we are well aware that we can work next to them only if our work causes no disturbances. We increasingly strive for mutual understanding with the community and today we can be proud of positive developments. The company speaks openly, carrying out an explanatory mission, thus, its actions no longer cause public concern. Our goal is one and only: transparency of activities through close cooperation with confidence at the forefront.

What is most interesting to the society?

The Environmental Impact Assessment Programme on the projected business operation was received with a number of questions. Many of them concern the plant's potential impact on human health and quality of the surroundings. "Some of the questions were answered during the coordination of the programme, and we will be able to answer the remaining ones only after a detailed environmental impact assessment. We plan to complete the assessment later this month and present the report in public afterwards," project leader and representative of SWECO Lietuva Vytautas Belickas said.

The environmental impact assessment report will be available to public within 10 working days after a press release. Later on, a public presentation-discussion will be held. Questions and suggestions are welcome within the said period and during the public meeting. "All of the questions will be answered as quickly as possible," Belickas said. Then, the report will be submitted to public authorities for evaluation.