A major operating system software upgrade is enabling AECI Much Asphalt to identify and standardize best practice across its manufacturing facilities in South Africa. The upgrade has included modernizing its database to enable the generation of live plant reports that can be used to confirm the integrity of the asphalt and evaluate consistency across 15 manufacturing plants. Data from the plants, as well as weighbridges and laboratories, can be produced and interpreted on the same platform to link all aspects of the production process from design through to distribution for each plant. “Our new system offers the unique ability to provide access to a significant range of live data, enabling our managers to make immediate, informed decisions,” says Colin Brooks, Group Plant Technical Manager. Analysis of the reports enables AECI Much Asphalt to compare international benchmarks with its own internal targets. Data provided includes the date and time of the batch, the recipe used, and measurements such as rate of production, bitumen tank temperature logging, bitumen and fuel level readings, as well as cold feed outputs. ‘’From this important information, we are able to create a standard template which can compare efficiency and quality in terms of start-ups, number of mixes, length of runs and other data,” says Brooks. “The benefit to our customers will be our ability to deliver a better-quality product on spec and on time. As we improve and standardize the best practices across all plants, we will also see an improvement in our energy usage, which will help to reduce our carbon footprint.” AECI Much Asphalt uses an Adroit operating software, which was developed in collaboration with Technopark Automation & Control (TAC) about 20 years ago. An upgrade to the Adroit software was required due to the shift to Windows 10. It was decided to dovetail this process with conversion of the database from Microsoft Access to SQL to standardize data capturing across all manufacturing processes from start to finish. Using the Adroit interface, TAC carried out all the back-end programming and changes. The upgrade took place over a two-year period and was completed at the end of 2019. “While we previously captured our data, the challenge was that all the pickup points were allocated to different places in the database and so we would have to sieve through the data to make comparisons between plants,” says Brooks. “We are planning to upgrade further to enable live tracking of stock usage, which will assist in achieving quick and efficient stock management.” Training has been provided to staff on generation and interpretation of the reports. While some aspects of the process still need to be operated manually at this stage, Brooks says AECI Much Asphalt expects the system to be fully automated by the end of 2021. “The Benoni plant is the only one that is not yet integrated as it uses a different operating system. We can generate reports, but not yet live data in real time,” Brooks explains. “We are liaising with the manufacturer of the Benoni plant and are confident that a solution will be available soon.” Colin Brooks, Group Plant Technical Manager, pictured at the AECI Much Asphalt Eerste River plant in Cape Town.

The Southern African Bitumen Association (SABITA) has named Eddie Jansen van Vuuren of AECI SprayPave and Melissa-Ann Jew of AECI Much Asphalt as joint recipients of its 2020 CEO Merit Award for Notable HSE Achievement. The winners were announced on 15 April 2021. Melissa-Ann Jew is SHEQ Manager at AECI Much Asphalt and Eddie Jansen van Vuuren is Director of AECI SprayPave, a subsidiary of AECI Much Asphalt. The SABITA HSE Award recognises notable initiatives by member companies or individual employees who have significantly contributed to the enhancement of HSE management within their own organisations or the bituminous industry in general. The first recipients of the annual CEO Merit Awards were announced in 2012. Nominations are received from member companies and the nominees must provide details on issues such as economic benefit of HSE performance enhancement, innovation to promote behaviour change, and applicability of achievements to the wider industry. “This time around there were joint recipients and we are very proud that both come from the AECI Much Asphalt group,” says AECI Much Asphalt Managing Director Bennie Greyling. Passion for the environment The nomination for Melissa-Ann Jew read as follows: “When Much Asphalt joined the AECI Group in 2018, the TRIR was over 3 against an AECI internal aim of <0,5. Melissa was appointed as SHEQ Manager for the AECI Much Asphalt group during the latter part of 2019. With excellent people skills, capable planning and passion she drove the TRIR down to the current 0,38. This puts AECI Much Asphalt amongst the top performers in the AECI group and indeed against global best practice. In addition, through passion for the environment and sheer drive she ensures that all the AECI Much Asphalt and SprayPave sites operate within the law and beyond in this respect. Her sincere love for people, as well as their safety and the environment they live and work in, plays a big role in her success. Her approach to everything is totally customer focused and continually promotes the concept that the SHEQ team serves others. Satisfaction surveys are used to evaluate processes and the input and criticism are used to achieve better performance. In her acceptance speech, Melissa-Ann mentioned that she was in fact receiving credit for a team effort and that no strides would have been achieved without the support of every employee. She went on to say: “I want to thank my mentor and leader, Bennie Greyling, for his and the senior management’s unwavering support in all aspects SHEQ. It is a dream come true to work with such amazing people and such an amazing team.” The right way to dispose of waste Eddie Jansen van Vuuren was nominated for his work on a waste bitumen recovery project which ensures that bituminous waste and steel drums do not end up on landfill sites. The project facilitates separation of the waste into components that can be re-used, followed by safe disposal of those that cannot be reused. Eddie assembled a team to design and build a system consisting of a drum decanter and heating procedure to recover bitumen from drums collected from customers and the three AECI SprayPave branches. This ensures that bitumen waste and steel drums do not unnecessarily end up on landfill sites and are safely disposed of in accordance with waste management regulations. This process comes at a substantial cost to the business. The initiative was a direct result of the AECI SprayPave Responsible Care Policy (cradle to grave commitment) and is a good example of sound Product Stewardship, which will hopefully “rub off” on other industry leaders. Waste management in the “blacktop” industry has always been a thorny issue and this project paves the way for other initiatives demonstrating that the industry really cares about the environment. Worthy winners – Melissa-Ann Jew and Eddie Jansen van Vuuren.

A ground-breaking partnership between Origin Materials, the world’s leading carbon negative materials company, and AECI Much Asphalt, southern Africa’s largest commercial asphalt manufacturer, is set to take world asphalt production by storm. Origin Materials, based in West Sacramento, USA, produces low and negative carbon materials with the mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials. This is exactly what the partnership aims to achieve in the asphalt sector. Origin Materials and AECI Much Asphalt have launched a programme to create a novel low-carbon bitumen. At the heart of the programme lies Origin Materials’ patented technology platform, which turns inexpensive, sustainable wood residues into cost-advantaged, carbon-negative materials that reduce the need for fossil resources. AECI Much Asphalt is an AECI Group company and AECI is a strategic investor in Origin Materials. The partnership with Origin Materials reflects the commitment of AECI Much Asphalt and its parent company to delivering innovative environmental solutions. “AECI Much Asphalt and Origin are both committed to innovative, sustainable solutions for bringing the globe to net zero as quickly as possible,” says Origin Materials co-CEO Rich Riley. “With AECI Much Asphalt’s leadership position in asphalt and extensive reach as a supplier to the African continent, we expect that this partnership can result in a significant reduction in carbon emissions and will play a key role in Origin’s mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials.” “AECI has formalised its strategy to 2025, which has sustainability at its core,” adds Dean Mulqueeny, AECI Group Executive and Chairman of AECI Much Asphalt. “Roll-out of the strategy includes our commitments and targets in terms of carbon intensity reductions. The partnership with Origin is totally aligned with this and exemplifies our brand promise of enabling ‘a better world’ through our products and services.” For AECI Much Asphalt, the partnership with Origin Materials is a significant step in reducing its own carbon footprint and that of its customers. Herman Marais, Plant and Technical Director at AECI Much Asphalt, says this programme is very significant due to the vital role of bitumen as the binder in asphalt production and the direct relation of the bitumen to the long-term performance of asphalt. Bitumen is the glue that holds the whole asphalt mix together and aids in compaction during the paving process. Once the asphalt has cooled, the bitumen provides the necessary stiffness and durability to the asphalt layer to last for its design life. “Although we currently only measure the carbon footprint of our processes during the manufacture of our asphalt products, the carbon footprint of the bitumen itself is high. Turning Origin Materials’ carbon neutral feedstock into an alternative asphalt binder therefore makes huge environmental sense,” says Marais. The collaboration with Origin Materials is expected to create considerable value in the developing African market, where AECI Much Asphalt is active, and could revolutionise global bitumen production. AECI Much Asphalt already includes up to 40% reclaimed asphalt in its products in a drive towards sustainable production which has resulted in more than a million tonnes of aggregate not being mined and avoided the refining of some 53 500 tonnes of bitumen since 2012. The Origin Materials platform is expected to provide stable pricing largely de-coupled from the petroleum supply chain, which is more volatile than supply chains based on sustainable wood residues. “With the closing of the Engen refinery and recurrent production challenges experienced by the other local refineries, South Africa has become a net importer of bitumen over the past year,” says Marais. “There is no indication that this balance will be redressed in the foreseeable future and the potential of an alternative source of asphalt binder from Origin Materials is an opportunity not only for environmental benefit, but also to ensure sustainability in the South African bitumen and asphalt market. “There is very exciting development work ahead and we eagerly await the commissioning of Origin Materials’ first production facility at the end of 2022 and its second not long thereafter to start seeing the true benefits of this joint venture.”