Neighbors

WACKER sees itself as a corporate citizen, and corporate citizenship begins with a good relationship with municipalities and with our immediate neighbors. We assess the effects of our business activities on our surroundings both on an ongoing basis and prior to making investment decisions. The assessment process includes analyzing parameters such as anticipated emissions, the regional infrastructure and the impact on the local job market.

We speak openly about what goes on behind plant gates. Our sites throughout the world welcome questions from the public, with nearby residents receiving fast, understandable responses to their concerns. We maintain local hotlines and have central contact partners available to deal with questions. We inform the public about our sites through environmental reports and other publications, and we issue invitations to open houses, such as the one held during the reporting period at our sites in Zhangjagang and Nanjing, China, as well as other events. These include the WACKER WISSENSFORUM (knowledge forum) and the Environment Information Days at our Burghausen site, and the annual community meetings at Nünchritz.

At many sites, we offer free services to surrounding communities. The following are a few examples from the period under review:

• Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (WMC) is a joint venture between WACKER and Metroark, a silicone manufacturer in Kolkata, India. In 2015, WMC held what the company called its Health & Eye Camp, enabling 600 poverty-stricken men and women from neighboring communities to have their eyes tested and undergo a heath check free of charge. After conducting the tests, the eye specialists gave 410 participants prescriptions for glasses and 71 people referrals to a hospital for cataract surgery.
• WACKER held its 19th “Household Hazardous Waste Day” for neighbors of its Adrian site in Michigan (USA) in 2016. On this day, nearby residents can bring in chemical household products that are not allowed in trash cans, such as paints, finishes, waste oil, antifreeze, pesticides and herbicides, spray cans and batteries. Held in Adrian continuously since 1997, this campaign has resulted in the collection and proper disposal or recycling of some 175 metric tons of household hazardous waste.

Procuring goods and services from local suppliers is another important way in which WACKER supports neighboring communities. We purchase about 90 percent of our technical goods and services in the country for which they are intended. Our two biggest sites are good examples of this regional supply-chain system:

• Burghausen, Bavaria
  In 2016, the site procured 18 percent (€172 million) of its technical goods and services from local suppliers (2015: 16 percent = €177 million). Another 23 percent came from suppliers in other parts of Bavaria. WACKER’s Burghausen site is part of the Bavarian Chemical Triangle – an area also known as ChemDelta Bavaria – which is home to companies employing some 20,000 people and indirectly securing a further 50,000 jobs in the region.
• Nünchritz, Saxony
  The plant, located in the state of Saxony in eastern Germany, sourced 15 percent of its supplies and services from the surrounding region in 2016 (15 percent in 2015). An additional 6 percent of its suppliers were from other eastern German states (5 percent in 2015). In total, these services from Saxony were valued at roughly €71 million (€68 million in 2015).