Companies can only be commercially successful if they have society’s trust, which is why we take our social responsibilities seriously, especially in communities near our sites. We place particular importance on the scientific and technical education of young people, since we will need dedicated scientists and engineers if we are to remain competitive tomorrow. Charitable and outreach projects to help children and young people represent another pillar of our social commitment, while the WACKER relief fund (WACKER HILFSFONDS) provides support to victims of natural disasters and helps rebuild devastated regions. As part of our social commitment, we seek enduring partnerships, focusing our investments preferably on long-term projects.

Taxes represent a significant way in which WACKER contributes to society – with €104.8 million in current taxes going to governments throughout the world in 2012 (2011: €234.7 million). For many years, WACKER has been the largest business taxpayer in Burghausen and Nünchritz, the locations of our two biggest German sites.

In addition to WACKER’s corporate taxes, governments receive the personal taxes and social-security contributions paid by our employees.

We donated roughly €3.6 million in 2011. Two-thirds of this went to the Chattanooga State Community College, where we founded the WACKER INSTITUTE. The center is to train future employees for the new polysilicon site in Charleston, Tennessee (USA). The remaining funds went to the SV Wacker Burghausen sports club as part of our efforts to support popular sports, and to foundations, associations and non-profit organizations. In 2012, our donations amounted to some €890,000.

Our sponsoring activities focus on education, science and the SV Wacker Burghausen professional soccer team. Sponsoring expenses amounted to some €880,000 in 2011 and €1,133,000 in 2012. The increase is due to the revision of WACKER’s school experiment kit and the organization of the Bavarian Young Scientists (“Jugend forscht”) competition (see Schools).