Wacker Chemie AG’s sustainability report explains how the Group balances economic aspects with environmental and social responsibility. In 1989, WACKER was among the first companies to report on its environmental performance. We were also among the first to enhance our environmental report with social and health information, creating our first sustainability report in 2002.
The present report, which builds on WACKER’s 2003 – 2006 sustainability report (published in March 2007), is available in English and German. The topic of sustainability is gaining importance. That’s why we have shortened the reporting period from four to two years and included new subjects. The facts and figures in this report relate to 2007 and 2008. Unless otherwise specified, our statements apply to all business divisions and sites around the world, as well as to every subsidiary in which WACKER is the majority shareholder. The information on our Group structure and financial position was taken from WACKER’s 2007 and 2008 annual reports. To be as up to date as possible, we have included an “Outlook” section with current issues as of 2009 (editorial deadline: June 30, 2009).
This report offers an honest and comprehensive account of sustainability at WACKER for the benefit of our customers, business partners, suppliers, shareholders, analysts, non-governmental organizations and the authorities, as well as our employees and neighbors at our various sites. We established the main contents through ongoing dialog with our stakeholders and a survey carried out in winter 2008. This international stakeholder survey asked some 30 respondents which sustainability topics are most relevant and how well WACKER handles them.
Our reporting is based on criteria recommended by future and the IÖW (the German Institute for Ecological Economy Research) as well as the international Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 guidelines. An index refers to the pages that contain information on the individual GRI indicators. The extent to which we have applied the GRI Reporting Framework in this report is indicated by a self-declared level, based on our own assessment. We achieved Application Level B.
Links & Downloads provides further information on the topics discussed in this report. The web links are marked beside the text with the symbol 
. Information and downloads on WACKER’s sustainability efforts are marked with the symbol 
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Our next sustainability report is scheduled for 2011.