PGE representative on the board of the European association ECOBA
ECOBA is actively involved in the transformation of the energy and construction industries towards climate neutrality. The Circular Economy sector is an important part of this process. The possibility for PGE to become involved in the decision-making process at the level of the ECOBA Management Board and the presence of the Polish voice on its forum will make it possible to present the interests of the Polish energy industry and companies in the area of economic use of by-products of combustion more effectively at the European level – says Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
ECOBA is particularly committed to the transformation of the energy and construction industries towards zero emissions and will foster greater use of anthropogenic secondary raw materials. This is a very important direction for our company and an opportunity that, in cooperation with ECOBA, we want to make good use of – says Lech Sekyra, President of the Management Board of PGE Ekoserwis.
The PGE Group, to which PGE Ekoserwis belongs, was one of the first companies in the CEE region to announce in its Strategy the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. One of the most important elements of achieving this goal is the implementation of the principles of the Circular Economy (CE) in all areas of the Group's operations. To this end, PGE has integrated specialised companies, creating unique competences in this area in the form of a dedicated Business Segment.
PGE Ekoserwis, which is the leader of the CE Segment, already manages nearly 7 million tonnes per year of waste and by-products from the energy industry, using them in many economic fields, such as construction, civil engineering or agriculture. The company is also building a specialised CE Research and Development Centre, which will be tasked with developing, among other things, technologies for recycling and recovering raw materials from decommissioned RES installations. The strategy and activities of the Circular Economy segment are a response to the challenges of the Polish economy both in the long term and in the coming years as an important element in the transformation processes. Therefore, the presence of a Polish representative on the ECOBA Board will give an additional impetus to the implementation of principles in line with the idea of Circular Economy in Poland.
The ECOBA association was founded in 1990 by European energy producers to ensure the full, beneficial and high-quality use of all combustion by-products. To this end, ECOBA is active in the development of European standards and is represented on the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). ECOBA promotes the pro-environmental approach that ash, slag and flue gas desulphurisation products from coal-fired power plants are valuable raw materials and building materials that can be used in various environmentally friendly ways. ECOBA's task is to implement this message, especially among legislative and standards institutions, and to communicate the economic and environmental benefits of the economic use of combustion by-products. ECOBA's leading role is to build a symbiosis between the energy and construction industries in order to effectively implement the circular economy.