Social Responsibility
WACKER sees itself as a good corporate citizen – as part of the society in which we live and work. We practice social responsibility, especially in the regions where our sites are located.
Social Issues
Neighbors: corporate citizenship is based on good relations with local communities and neighbors. We are transparent about what happens behind our factory gates. All of our sites worldwide respond to inquiries from the public. Local residents who approach us with a concern receive prompt and clear answers. Local hotlines and central contact persons are available for such matters. We publish information about our sites in environmental reports and in other brochures.
At some of our sites, we offer local communities free services, such as the Household Hazardous Waste Day which WACKER organizes together with other companies, at our site in Adrian, Michigan (USA) and on which neighbors can bring in household chemical products free of charge that are not allowed in trash cans.
Donations and sponsorships: Our approach to sponsorship focuses on charitable activities, education and science. One example is our sponsorship of the TUM Venture Labs Initiative at the Technical University of Munich. Conceived as an incubator, this initiative helps students and doctoral candidates to set up technology-based start-ups where engineering, natural and life sciences, AI/IT and medicine cross.
In Munich, WACKER has sponsored a children’s and youth charity, The Ark, since 2006, and, in the reporting year, made its 17th regular donation of €100,000, taking the total donated (including special donations) to over €1.7 million. The Ark helps children and adolescents from socially disadvantaged families in the city’s Moosach district.
The WACKER Relief Fund is dedicated to providing unbureaucratic, long-term aid, especially in the wake of natural disasters. The fund’s board members and trustees work on a voluntary basis. So far, Wacker Chemie AG has matched all employee contributions to the fund. The relief fund uses its cent-donation program to finance ongoing operations at the schools it sponsors. Employees agree to round down their monthly paycheck to the next lower euro amount, and the company matches the cent amounts it collects, thereby doubling its contribution.
In the year under review, WACKER HILFSFONDS donated €150,000 to Aktion Deutschland hilft e.V., to help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. Around half of this donation came from the workforce. WACKER doubled the amount and rounded it up.
In 2023, WACKER paid €58.3 million in current taxes to governments throughout the world (2022: €392.3 million). In addition to these corporate taxes, governments also receive the personal taxes and social-security contributions paid by our employees.
Schools and universities: WACKER wants to encourage children and young people to explore technology and the natural sciences. We are a founding member of the Bavarian Educational Pact, a foundation in which the state of Bavaria collaborates with industry to modernize Bavaria’s education system. Angela Wörl, our Personnel Director, is a member of the foundation’s board of directors. WACKER’s CHEM2DO® experiment kit helps us provide free advanced training to science teachers in Germany and Austria on how to experiment in the classroom with silicones and cyclodextrins. Digital chemistry classes are enriched with animations and explanatory videos on curriculum topics such as interactions, hydrophobization, crosslinking and properties of plastics and silicones.
www.chem2do.de (In German only)
WACKER places great emphasis on fostering young scientific talent and maintaining close contacts with universities. Our researchers are invited to deliver presentations and lectures at universities. University groups visit our locations to gain insights into work at an industrial company. Students can write their bachelor’s, master’s or doctor’s theses at WACKER, or work as interns or student employees.
