As the European Green Deal is striving for Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent, all 27 EU Member States, including Bulgaria have committed to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions and transforming the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. In this regard, large energy and carbon-intensive companies from the heavy chemical industry are entitled to make serious efforts in the direction of decarbonization. Therefore, already at the beginning of 2022, Solvay Sodi presented an ambitious roadmap for ecological and sustainable development, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of production by 40% by 2027, end the use of fossil fuels by 2030 and achieve of climate neutrality by 2050, which, as a whole, goes beyond what is set in regulatory terms in the EU

With the implementation of its projects, Solvay Sodi actively assists Bulgaria in the implementation of Green pact' goals and especially in the significant reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at national level. The plant's contribution to saving emissions represents approx. 4% of Bulgaria's goals until 2027. The Road map guarantees the preservation and future development of the company and will lead to significant social, environmental and economic effects at national level.

Since 2005, the plant has achieved a 90% reduction in air pollutant emissions, a 35% reduction in energy intensity of production, a 30% reduction in carbon intensity, a 45% reduction in water consumption. Already with the first project from the Roadmap, implemented in 2022, significant green effects and a reduction (potential of over 200,000 tons/year) of CO2 emissions are achieved.

The first project, implemented at the end of 2022, involves the use of biomass in one of the existing circulating fluidized bed boilers. In the short term, the other projects related to the company's thermal power plant, which are in the research and development stage and for which sustainable solutions are sought, are: • increasing the use of biomass up to 50% at the input of the high-efficiency cogeneration plant and • steam production project based on the recovery of alternative fuels from previously processed non-hazardous waste. Regarding the soda ash production processes, we are intensively working on projects related to • energy efficiency of the processes, as well as • production and use of biocoke in lime kilns, as a raw material for the production of soda ash. In the long run, depending on the progress and industrialization of technologies, the company is working on innovative projects related to the electrification of part of the processes that are using today thermal energy. In parallel, the development of technologies for "green" hydrogen, as a primary fuel, as well as the development of small modular reactors, as an alternative to cogeneration, are monitored

The SAPHIRRE project is a technological innovation whose main goal is to create a sustainable model of industrial symbiosis between two of the largest industrial enterprises of the chemical industry in Bulgaria. As a result of this synergy, two waste streams with a permanent negative impact on the environment are transformed into raw materials designed to obtain ecological end products with the possibility of direct market realization. The installation for the recovery of non-hazardous household waste, on the other hand, will support the sustainable development of the country, as well as speed up the processes related to the proper treatment of waste. The implementation of the projects will contribute to the sustainable use of resources and the reduction of the industrial impact