Strategy and Governance
WACKER specifically focuses on integrated environmental protection and seeks to take a comprehensive approach when examining environment-related impacts, risks and opportunities. This integrated approach is part of our corporate policy applicable groupwide.
Details can be found in the topic-specific sections E2 (Pollution), E3 (Water and Marine Resources) and E5 (Resource Use and Circular Economy).
Strategy
It goes without saying that the protection and welfare of our employees, neighbors and the environment are our responsibility as a company. True to our purpose – “Our solutions make a better world for generations” – we pay particular attention to integrated environmental protection and a circular economy by taking the entire value chain and the demands of our stakeholders into account.
Our approach is based on four pillars:
- State-of-the-art operation of facilities that ensures legal certainty
- Identification and avoidance of any potential environmental risks
- Continual improvement in environmental protection
Our environmental protection measures often surpass statutory requirements – in the spirit of the central idea behind the Responsible Care® initiative. We contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by embodying responsible stewardship. We use our production to support SDG 12 “Responsible consumption and production”. We also partner with our suppliers and customers worldwide in the case of SDG 17 “Partnerships for the goals” by encouraging sustainable business practices. When it comes to water, we contribute to SDG 6 “Clean water and sanitation”.
The group coordinators for environmental protection, product safety, and safety are responsible for implementing and refining our strategy.
Policies
Environmental management is part of our integrated management system, which governs environment, health, safety and product safety groupwide. Responsibility lies with the respective Executive Board member responsible for the topic (see ESRS 2).
The Group regulation governing environmental protection, health protection, safety and product safety and the Group directives governing environmental protection are intended to protect people, their surroundings and nature from harmful environmental effects and also to take preventative action against harmful environmental effects. This also includes sustainable handling of water as a resource as well as legally compliant and environmentally compatible disposal of waste. The group coordinators for environment, product safety, and safety are responsible for implementation.
These groupwide standards for environmental protection apply to all production sites and technical competence centers. Site managers ensure that legal requirements and WACKER standards for environmental protection, water use and waste management are complied with. Water includes both surface water from rivers and oceans as well as groundwater.
The Group regulations and directives relating to Procurement & Logistics lay down requirements for strategy, planning and risk management for resource procurement and related supplier management. The head of Procurement & Logistics is responsible for this.
Adherence to all the relevant legislation, regulations and commitments form the basis of our compliance regulation. The respective specialist teams are responsible for monitoring and assessing the relevant requirements under environmental law.
Directives relating to topic-specific impacts, risks and opportunities are described in greater detail in the individual standards on the topics.
