Gasunie ranks among the largest gas infrastructure companies in Europe Gasunie ranks among the largest gas infrastructure companies in Europe. Safety is a top priority within Gasunie; it forms the basis of our “licence to operate”. We apply the most stringent health, safety and environmental standards in respect of our employees and our contractors. It goes without saying that Gasunie’s safety policy, characterised by a proactive approach to the prevention of accidents, incidents and hazardous situations, also applies to waste products.

What is waste? Every year as Gasunie we produce approximately 19,000 tons of waste. Of this waste, approximately 3,000 tons can be classified as hazardous waste. That is quite a mountain, but what is actually waste? In fact there is no such thing as waste, because what is waste to one person is a raw material to another person. However, in general, we can say that anything you want to get rid of can be classed as waste. Generally these are not useless residues, and some parts of the waste can be very valuable and often suitable for reuse. At Gasunie we also encourage conservation and improvement of environmental quality and this is how we make a contribution to sustainable development.

Gasunie applies the following order of priorities with regard to waste processing, which is known as “Lansink’s ladder”: Prevention: preventing waste production. Reuse: separating waste as carefully as possible so that the products and residues can be reused. 3. Recycling: making new products from residues, e.g. paper. 4. Combustion: thermal processing (with energy recovery) if reuse or recycling is not possible. 5. Landfill: if combustion is not possible or permitted, the waste will be sent for landfill, e.g. items containing asbestos.

Waste collection and processing At Gasunie we have three separate framework contracts with service providers for the disposal of waste and residues: Reym: all liquid waste streams such as glycol/water, contaminated waste water, cleaning residue and natural gas condensate. The liquid waste streams are processed at ATM in Moerdijk. Oosterhof Holman: all building materials such as polluted soil and gravel. Envirion (from Gansewinkel): all remaining (hazardous) waste and residues. The following basic principles are applied to waste collection and processing: All waste streams emanating from Gasunie are removed by these three parties exclusively. Waste substances are reported and registered on the basis of the European waste codes (known as Euralcodes). Reporting waste to the authorities and registering Euralcodes and waste stream numbers has been contracted out by Gasunie to the aforementioned service providers.

Due to Gasunie’s statutory obligations as a disposer of waste, the company provides details of waste substances every year in an environmental report submitted to the government. No waste may be stored at Gasunie locations other than waste that has been collected and made ready for transport. Waste substances and residues must be properly wrapped and correctly labelled before they may be transported. The removal of waste shall only be performed by the aforementioned transporters and care shall be taken at all times to ensure that the correct papers are present. Contaminated waste substances shall never be incinerated or stored (permanently) in the ground. Special waste collection points are set up at all Gasunie installations and office locations and at Gasunie projects. All Gasunie’s waste shall be collected in separate containers at these points, for example: metal, wood, building waste, hazardous substances, oil residues and batteries.

Special types of waste Small hazardous waste (SHW) Asbestos This is waste containing chemical substances that are harmful to health and the environment, for example, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium or organic solvents. When these substances are burned, they pollute the air and when they are landfilled, they pollute the groundwater. That is why these waste streams must be collected separately to other substances. Asbestos If there is any doubt about the presence of asbestos, an asbestos inventory must be taken by Envirion. Individuals must not take samples themselves! Asbestos often occurs at Gasunie in bitumen coating and packaging containing asbestos. These two exceptions to the rule may be removed by Gasunie itself in accordance with a simplified procedure (Class I), without an inventory report, but subject to strict conditions. Waste substances containing asbestos may not be reused but must be clearly labelled, packaged in thick double plastic and landfilled. When transporting gas pipes with a bitumen coating containing asbestos, the sawn-off ends and damaged parts must be tightly covered up/taped up so that they will never give off asbestos emissions into the open air.

Radioactive waste (LSA) Radioactive waste can be released when opening pipelines and installation sections in the high-pressure transport system. This can be established by measurements taken by a radiation expert. As well as being radioactive, this waste may also be contaminated with mercury. Radioactive contaminated waste must always be removed following consultation with the radiation expert from the Safety department. Cables and scrap All cupriferous cables and steel residues are collected separately due to their high resale value. The conditions for sale are that they are accompanied by as little contamination as possible, otherwise a “contamination deduction” is applied to the price.

Natural gas condensate Natural gas condensate consists of liquid hydrocarbons that may be released as natural gas is being produced during the treatment process. This liquid must be removed from the transport network in order to prevent damage to control instruments and other equipment. The Gasunie transport system contains 1200 liquid containment facilities built in for this purpose. These facilities are drained regularly every year. These regular draining exercises are carried out by Reym on a contract basis with natural gas condensate wagons specially developed for this purpose. Oil Oil and products containing oil must be stored in a separate storage space with bunded floors and sufficient containment facilities to prevent possible leaks. All vats must also be provided with the correct labels regarding content and hazard class.

Blasting grit Contaminated blasting grit can be removed by Envirion. It is also possible that the company performing the blasting will remove the (contaminated) blasting grit itself for recycling or making it suitable for reuse. In these cases, Gasunie is not the disposer of waste. This must be clearly agreed in advance in order to prevent incorrect registration of the waste streams.