Air

Global warming due to rising emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a socially and economically relevant environmental factor. Its consequences can include extreme weather conditions, such as storms, drought or flooding, that vary from region to region, and their resulting effects, e.g. on agriculture and the availability of drinking water. A primary cause of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels. That’s why we see energy efficiency as a key to ecologically effective climate protection.

The Group’s corporate carbon footprint report is an important tool for pursuing climate-protection measures. We have been recording our indirect greenhouse gas emissions from bought-in energy (as per Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2) since 2011, and we have also been measuring our Scope 3 emissions since 2012. These include all emissions generated along the supply chain, e.g. by suppliers or through waste disposal and the transportation of products.

In the 2016 fiscal year, we once again forwarded these emissions data to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which WACKER joined in 2007. Founded in London in 2000, CDP is a not-for-profit organization working to achieve greater transparency in greenhouse-gas emissions. Wacker Chemie AG’s performance profile was rated B (on a scale from A to D) in CDP’s 2016 ratings. Achieving a disclosure score of 97 out of a possible 100 points and a performance score of B on a scale of A to E, we were above average in the Energy & Materials category in 2015. WACKER was among the leading companies listed in the MDAX index in 2015.

Commissioning of the Charleston site, USA, led to an 8.7-percent rise (in CO₂ equivalents; CO₂e) in direct greenhouse-gas emissions (Scope 1) groupwide in 2016. In the previous year, they fell by 1.4 percent groupwide.

Our indirect CO₂ emissions from procured energy (as per Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 2) rose by just under 17 percent to 1,855 kilotons (kt) in 2016 (2015: 1,544 kt). The reasons for the increase were the commissioning of the US Charleston site, and the temporary maintenance work on the Burghausen combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant in the same year. The rise in indirect CO₂ emissions in 2015 was due to the inclusion of emissions from electricity consumption for 300 mm wafer production in Singapore, increased production volumes at Burghausen and Nünchritz, and the higher emissions factor for electricity generation in Germany (data in accordance with “CO₂ Emissions from Fuel Combustion,” 2015 and 2016 Edition, published by the International Energy Agency). We used energy-efficiency measures to reduce weighted specific energy consumption and the associated specific CO₂ emissions – while maintaining a comparable product portfolio.

There were two reasons for increased nitrogen oxide emissions (NO_x) in 2016: first, the new Charleston site; second, the legally required recording of emissions data at the Holla site in Norway involved a new measurement method. In 2015, they had dropped by around 4 percent. Several measures were responsible for this. At the Freiberg site, Siltronic took a third stage of the NO_x scrubber into operation. We modernized a burner stage of the steam generator in Nünchritz. We reduced our NO_x emissions in Nünchritz by cutting the amount of waste that is thermally processed. Extending the operating time of the gas turbine in our Burghausen power plant also had a positive effect on NO_x emissions in 2015.

Emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) at Burghausen fell in 2016; groupwide, they rose slightly as a result of higher production volumes at the sites in Nanjing (China) and Ulsan (South Korea). We support a local government initiative in China aimed at reducing VOC emissions. The Nanjing and Zhangjiagang sites have started the implementation of VOC LDAR (VOC leakage detection and repair). In addition, we monitor online the VOC emissions from Nanjing’s powder-plant dryers and share our data with local environmental authorities.

At WACKER BIOSOLUTIONS’ Eddyville site in Iowa (USA), optimization of apparatus maintenance and solvent recovery has enabled us to reduce NMVOC emissions by 33 percent between 2012 and 2015. NMVOC emissions there dropped further in 2016 due to lower production-capacity utilization.

One of our environmental targets is to halve specific dust emissions per metric ton of product groupwide between 2012 and 2022. This mainly affects silicon-metal production at the Holla site in Norway, where modifications were made to filtration systems in 2016 in order to reduce dust. Owing to this modification work, dust emissions rose temporarily during the official, four-week period of non-standard operations. If specific emissions are calculated based on normal operations in 2016, measures already taken have brought about a reduction in dust emissions of some 40 percent relative to the base year of 2012.

At the Stetten site, the acceptance of backfill produced unpleasant odors for neighbors under unfavorable weather conditions in the period under review. We analyzed the underlying cause and worked on several solutions. A new approach is to no longer accept backfill with a strong odor. We furthermore sealed cavities that had already been filled again and successfully tested the use of cyclodextrins for odor absorption. The next step is to carry out a long-term trial with cyclodextrins.

We take measurements at our largest site, Burghausen, in order to monitor whether our individual site facilities comply with legal emissions limits. Immission measurements in the adjoining EU Habitats Directive site (German-language version only) by an external assessor showed that the values measured there are considerably below the legally permissible limit values or guideline values.

Sustainable Mobility Strategy

When it comes to climate protection, production is not the only factor – our employees’ carbon footprint is also significant. We encourage them to leave their cars at home. At our Burghausen site, we provide 56 commuter bus routes, which some 3,000 of our employees use every day within a 50-km radius; around 5,000 employees have annual tickets.

At our Burghausen site, we maintain a fleet of around 6,000 bicycles and offer our employees charging facilities for their e-bikes. We also provide charging facilities at our central R&D facilities in Munich. Our Nünchritz site has a fleet of around 950 bicycles. In Germany, we participated in the campaign “Cycle to Work” (German-language version only).

WACKER received the 2015 GreenFleet award for its sustainable fleet and passenger transport strategy. The award was conferred by FleetCompany GmbH, a subsidiary of TÜV Süd (the German association for technical inspection). The jury honored WACKER for using environmentally friendly vehicles, keeping passenger transports and business trips to a minimum, organizing shuttle services, and maintaining a fleet of on-site bicycles.

Our company car fleet has some 650 vehicles groupwide and accounts for 0.5 percent of groupwide greenhouse gas emissions as per Scope 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. When we choose contracting companies for passenger transport, we assess the safety and environmental impact of the vehicles used by the bidders. Since 2011, our company car fleet in Germany has only included models that meet a minimum rating of “good” according to the safety and environmental assessment criteria issued by the German Automobile Association (ADAC).

We have tightened the CO₂ emissions limits for our company cars to a maximum of 110 to 175 g/km. Our fleet average is 132 g/km. At an annual average of 30,000 km traveled per car, we lowered CO₂ emissions by almost 10 percent in the period under review, relative to 2012. Since late 2016, we have been conducting tests to incorporate electromobility into our company vehicle concept as part of the WACKER Emobility project.

WACKER offers frequent travelers and employees who use company cars the opportunity of participating in safety and eco training. Regularly held safety weeks at our sites cover sustainable mobility topics. We are looking at incentive systems that will motivate managerial employees even more to switch to environmentally friendly vehicles with alternative drives.

During the period under review, we tested hydrogen-powered vehicles, but decided that electric vehicles are more suitable for us. The electric drive does not generate exhaust gases, is quiet and has low operating and maintenance costs, as it requires less servicing.

Over two thirds of the materials-handling equipment (lifting trucks, stackers and towing vehicles) at our Burghausen and Nünchritz sites have electric motors. Groupwide, the switchover to energy-saving electric motors now covers other equipment, such as pumps and compressors.

In Burghausen, a shuttle bus picks up employees arriving from Munich at the train station and transports them to various destinations on site; a zero-emission shuttle bus for visitors is used on the site. Electric vehicles are part of our pool fleet, as are hybrid vehicles since 2016. Our internal mail service at the Burghausen site switched to electric vehicles in fall 2016. The technical departments for installation and on-call services use several commercial electric vehicles, too.

We encourage our employees to take the train when traveling between the Burghausen site and Munich headquarters. And we have negotiated a special ticket for this regular route with SüdOstBayernBahn, which includes public transport (e.g. the subway to the headquarters). An additional appeal of the special corporate ticket is a bonus card for frequent travelers. WACKER also provides employees with German Rail “Bahncards.” As part of the 2016 (PDF:) bahn.business program (German-language version only), 43.4 percent of our business trips were covered by rail, CO₂-free with 100 percent green electricity.

In China, we offer shuttle buses from residential areas to our sites in Nanjing and Zhangjiagang. Siltronic’s US site at Portland (Oregon) provides incentives – such as subsidized public transportation – to encourage employees to commute in an environmentally aware fashion. In Singapore, Siltronic has arranged for shuttle buses to travel from the site to various parts of the city. A shuttle bus system is also available to our employees in Kolkata, India.