Through reducing greenhouse gas emissions at its Lawley factory, Corobrik, South Africa's largest brick manufacturer, has become the first company in South Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa to be awarded carbon credits by the United Nations Clean Development Mechanism.

"This award is a manifestation of Corobrik's ongoing commitment to look after the environment and its people as best we can," says newly appointed managing director, Dirk Meyer, who stepped into the role when Peter du Trevou was appointed as chairman in September 2008.

Certificates of Carbon Emissions Reductions (CER's) are awarded under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as set out by the Kyoto Protocol, to which nations, including South Africa, became signatories in a bid to reduce the effects of global climate change.

"The Corobrik Lawley factory switched from coal to natural gas firing in 2004, resulting in an average annual reduction of 17 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions," explains Meyer. "Under this scheme, Lawley for the two calendar years 2005 and 2006, has been issued 35 130 Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), where one CER is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) reduced."

CER's are similar to share certificates issued on a stock exchange. Under the emissions trading scheme, developed countries can achieve their emission reduction targets by purchasing greenhouse gas emission reductions, or carbon credits, from developing nations, such as South Africa, India, China and Brazil.  "We have sold our carbon credits to Statkraft Markets Gmbh, a large, German-based electricity producer that operates throughout Europe," adds Meyer. "The funds we receive go back to Lawley to offset the cost of financing the project."

Meyer emphasises that the driving force behind the decision to switch to natural gas firing was to further enhance the greening of our business. "The world is at a critical point and we all have an obligation to ensure that we conserve our limited natural resources for the benefit of future generations," he notes.

The primary goal of the conversion was to eliminate the airborne ash contamination in the factory environment that came from burning 25 000 tonnes of coal per annum, which gave off an ash content of 30%, or 8 000 tonnes.

Other benefits of the investment are being realised in the form of better product quality, higher yields, reduced wastage, improved comfort and safety for staff.

To obtain these certificates required absolute perseverance and integrity, as the verification process is bureaucratic and extremely stringent.

"Being early out of the starting blocks to undertake this process, we were not aware of how it worked and have learned valuable lessons along the way," he says. "In order to encourage other companies to follow suit, we will be happy to share this knowledge."

Corobrik now has six of its bigger factories being fired on natural gas the last conversion being at Driefontein factory where Corobrik is preparing to apply for a CER's.  Corobrik is set to continue along its path of investing in energy efficient and clean air technologies.

"It is a modern business imperative for companies to take a triple bottom line view, which takes into account financial, environmental and social impacts," Meyer concludes. "Corobrik fully endorses this perspective and we remain committed to providing quality products with reduced impact on the environment and greater social benefit".

This release has been circulated on behalf of Corobrik

For more information contact:

Dirk Meyer on 031 560 3491 or 083 455 8238

Peter Kidger on 031 560 3233 or 083 254 1939