Protecting natural resources
Sustainable water usage, effluent minimization and recycling, consumption and waste reduction, and restorative decommissioning—guided by formal policies and processes
SLB realizes the importance of respecting and protecting the world’s natural resources. We are currently developing a formal water stewardship strategy that will help us identify opportunities as well as gain a better understanding of areas where our facilities, employees, and suppliers are most vulnerable to water risks.
Water conservation and waste management practices
We are committed to responsibly managing shared water resources by minimizing water use and effluent waste. We require that our activities, products, and services be designed, procured, and used with the goal of efficiently managing resource consumption. Where reasonably practicable, our operations and activities involving water resources must maximize reuse of water; investigate opportunities for rainwater collection and use of suitable effluents from other processes; minimize freshwater use, especially in areas prone to seasonal, sporadic, or year-round water shortages; and use recirculating systems, where feasible, if cooling water is required.
When we take actions related to water resources, we consider local circumstances, such as environmental sensitivities and water availability. We also develop site-specific water resource management procedures that address water usage requirements at our facilities and in our operations as well as controls and procedures to manage related impacts. A resource management procedure for water generally identifies the applicable sources of water supply and the principal uses of water.
Local impact
- In Guyana, we installed a closed-loop water recycling system at our largest facility to conserve water and reduce discharge to sewers. This decreased our impact on local water treatment systems and eliminated the annual need for 200 tote tanks.
- In Mexico, installing a new water cycle management system within our onsite wastewater plant has reduced water consumption by 7% and waste discharge by 12.5%.
Management of waste and effluents
SLB is committed to managing and reducing waste and effluents throughout its facilities, and we have set internal objectives focused on effluent management. Most of our sites have waste minimization plans, and some are required to submit waste minimization and pollution prevention progress reports.
Our waste management providers are contractually required to comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations at the federal, state, provincial, and local levels. We periodically audit them and hold at least one annual environmental business review with our top providers. Our waste-related data covers 100% of our business operations and includes waste from facilities, manufacturing, building, and remodeling as well as discarded sand from wellsite operations. We reuse materials when possible and continue to seek opportunities to reduce both direct consumption of resources and the waste we generate.
We have procedures in place to minimize, respond to, and control the environmental impact of uncontained spills at company worksites and at some third-party-controlled worksites.
A chemical management process is in place to manage the risks associated with chemicals used in our activities, products, and services and to protect SLB employees, customers, contractors, suppliers, and property as well as the environment. The process also promotes compliance with regulatory and contractual requirements.
We implemented additive manufacturing (AM) more than five years ago. AM is the process of creating an object by building it one layer at a time—usually through 3D printing rather than casting—with any number of materials, ranging from polymers to metals, ceramics, elastomers, gels, or biomaterials. In addition to improving efficiency, AM enhances sustainability by reducing material and energy consumption, manufacturing time, waste, and emissions. It also enables cost-effective production of small quantities, facilitating customization and conserving resources.
Our QHSE Policy Statement, which is signed by the CEO, requires an active commitment to and accountability for quality, health, safety, and the environment (QHSE) from all employees and contractors. Our QHSE commitments include minimizing our impact on the environment through pollution prevention, decrease in natural resource consumption, emission minimization, recycling, and waste reduction. Line management has a leadership role in communicating, implementing, and maintaining compliance with QHSE policies and standards.
We're committed to reducing air emissions from our operations. SLB's Environmental Management Standard sets forth our requirements for monitoring emissions and complying with local air quality standards.
