Since 2004, WACKER has been using a system to assess its sites’ environmental performance. This system is used to convert a site’s total emissions and resource and energy consumption into environmental units which also include the use of water and amount of waste generated.

The environmental performance assessment incorporates both absolute quantities and weighting factors, which take account of four criteria:

• Environmental impact
• Safety of treatment/disposal
• Requirements imposed by environmental legislation and corporate policy
• Public acceptance

Since 2011, our environmental performance assessment has included our silicon-metal plant in Holla (Norway), acquired in 2010. The environmental impact of metallurgical production there differs greatly from that of WACKER’s typical chemical operations. Airborne emissions, in particular, have risen as a result of the acquisition. As of 2013, environmental performance assessment reporting no longer differentiates between these two areas. 2014 was the first year in which the accounting of key environmental indicators also included consolidated reporting on 300 mm wafer production in Singapore.

Energy consumption – electricity and heat consumption included in the environmental units – is very important to WACKER due to public awareness of the significance of greenhouse gases and international climate-protection agreements. Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases are largely energy-related at WACKER. The number of environmental units increased by around 3 percent between 2012 and 2014. In terms of production volumes, we improved by 11 percent relative to 2012. At the Burghausen site, we have lowered the specific environmental units (which are measured against production volumes) by 56 percent over the past ten years.