Cefic Responsible Care-rapport 2009

Responsible Care

Europe 2008-2009

Our Commitment to Sustainability

A supplement presented with

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Cefic Responsible Care Annual Report 2009

Contents 2 Chairman’s message 4 Outreach to SMEs takes shape

7 Responsible Care at Cefic – a personal review

8 Energy saving fits all sizes 10 Safe and secure 12 Prague spotlight focuses on nanomaterials and logistics

16 Cefic Responsible Care Awards 2009

20 Responsible Care on the road

24 ICCA presents SAICM progress

26 Indicators continue to show progress

Bernhard Thier Responsible Care Manager, Cefic Avenue E van Nieuwenhuyse, 4 B-1160 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 676 7378 Fax: +32 2 676 7331 Email: bth@cefic.be Website: www.cefic.org

ICIS Chemical Business Quadrant House The Quadrant Sutton Surrey, SM2 5AS, UK Tel: + 44 20 8652 3187 Fax: +44 20 8652 3375 Email: icbeditorial@icis.com Website: www.icis.com

Global sales manager Bernard Petersen Editor John Baker,

Global Editor,

Custom Publishing

Tel: + 44 20 8652 3153 Email: john.baker@icis.com Website: www.icis.com Contributors Debbie Jackson, Mark Whitfield

European sales manager Maarten Dubbeld Commercial director David Stanworth Publishing director Christopher Flook Printing Fry

©2009 by Reed Business Information. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, or reproduced or utilised in any form or by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and record or in any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

A support in times of crisis In difficult times, industry should draw strength from Responsible Care, not neglect it, says Jean-Paul Peres The chemical industry has a key role to play in helping society address its challenges of today. In the final report of the European Commission’s High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the European Chemical Industry our industry is recognised as a “provider of solutions for a sustainable future”.

Our products have been proven to help significantly reduce CO2 emissions. A recent carbon life cycle analysis study commissioned by the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) clearly demonstrates that for each tonne of CO2 emitted by the chemical industry, the emission of two to three tonnes of CO2 is avoided down the value chain through the application of chemical products and technologies provided to other industries and consumers.

Of course, this does not prevent us to go further to look for new ways to improve our energy efficiency and to reduce our emissions through Responsible Care.

In 2009 the chemical industry in Europe has been suffering in an unprecedented financial and economic crisis.

Although we are not out of the recession yet, I have faith that the chemical ­industry in Europe contains within itself the strengths to overcome this challenge and others.

The strength to overcome the crisis is also based on Responsible Care. The time of crisis is by no means a time to neglect Responsible Care - on the

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CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

contrary. Companies managing their operations on a sound Responsible Care basis have a competitive advantage, because they suffer less from accidents, they save costs on energy and resources and they find support in their local communities.

An outstanding element of Responsible Care in Europe is the cooperation with trade unions based on the European Social Dialogue.

For the second time, trade union delegates have participated in our annual conference. The European Mine, Chemical & Energy Workers’ Federation is a key partner in our EU project to promote Responsible Care in smaller businesses, prisme2. EMCEF’s secretary general Reinhard Reibsch is also a member of the independent jury for our Responsible Care Awards competition.

Responsible Care continues to attract interest from new growth regions including the Middle East, eastern Europe and Asia. CEOs of 160 companies have now signed the letter of support for the Responsible Care Global Charter. The Charter extends the scope of Responsible Care to product stewardship and sustainable development.

Jean-Paul Peres, chairman, Responsible Care Europe, Cefic

“The time of crisis is by no means a time to neglect Responsible Care - on the contrary. Companies managing their operations on a sound Responsible Care basis have a competitive advantage.”

To visualise this, last year we added a tag line to the logo of Responsible Care: Our Commitment to Sustainability.

At the second Intergovernmental Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM-2) in Geneva in May we presented the progress made in implementing the Responsible Care Global Charter and the Global Product Strategy (GPS), a framework which will ensure a hitherto unprecedented level of security in the field of product stewardship worldwide.

Even though Responsible Care is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2010, it is still a young and growing structure with a bright future.

Jean-Paul Peres Chairman, Responsible Care Europe, Cefic

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SME PROJECTS

Outreach to SMEs takes shape

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Cefic’s prisme2 project to engage smaller companies with Responsible Care and improve their SHE performance is making progress, reports John Baker In November 2008, Cefic started an ambitious project to involve smaller European chemical businesses in Responsible Care. Unexpectedly, the start of the project, known as prisme2, coincided with the dramatic economic downturn which hit the chemical industry and has overshadowed this year.

Chemical companies and federations set up recovery plans, adopted strict cost-saving measures and – when invited to participate in prisme2 – asked a crucial question: is the time of economic crisis the right time to increase voluntary engagement in Responsible Care?

The successful development of prisme2 and the increase of official project partners and sponsors – from four in November 2008 to 26 organisations at the time this report was printed – speaks for itself.

Recognition came also from an unexpected quarter: the European Commission’s Directorate General for the Environment included prisme2 as a best practice in its publication “Towards 2020: Making Chemicals Safer”, which summarises the European contribution to the UN’s Strategic Approach to

International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

“Since its launch, Responsible Care has been spreading throughout the world, especially in larger companies.

Prisme2 aims to support small and medium-sized enterprises in implementing Responsible Care”, explains Cefic’s new director general Hubert Mandery.

Since its launch, prisme2 has made solid progress. Since May 2008 prisme2 pilots to involve SMEs in a series of workshops have been started in six European countries – one of them being Greece.

Georgios Themistocleous, Respon­ sible Care coordinator at HACI, the Greek chemical industry association, explains that: “For the Greek chemical industry this project came at the right time to re-engage in Responsible Care. Due to the fact that we are mainly composed of SMEs and smaller subsidiaries of multinationals, the approach was appealing from the start and many companies participated in our first prisme2 workshops.” ❯❯

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SME PROJECTS

prisme2 main contacts Coordination Bernhard Thier, Cefic Tel. +32 2 676 73 78 Email:bth@cefic.org Trade unions Reinhard Reibsch, EMCEF Tel. +32 2 626 21 84 Email:rreibsch@emcef.org Germany Hans Daniel, VCI Tel. +49 69 2556 1503 Email:daniel@vci.de UK John Roche, CIA Tel. +44 207 9636709 Email:rochej@cia.org.uk Spain Jesús Soriano, Feique Tel. +34 91 4317964 Email:jsm@feique.org Slovakia Silvia Surova, ZCHFP Tel. +421 465 430889 Email:silvia.surova@vupas.sk

Prisme2 partners at December 2009 BASF Cefic CIA DFH Druckfarben Dow Chemical Duslo ECEG EMCEF Ercros ESIG ETPIS European Commission EU-OSHA Feique HACI IFOK Ing Petr Svec, PENTA ReachCentrum Rhodia SCHP CR Solvay Tomorrow’s Company UIC Unipetrol VCI VNCI ZCHFP

Czech Republic Ladislav Spacek, SCHP Tel. +420 266/793574 Email: ladislav.spacek@schp.cz Greece George Themistocleous, HACI Tel.: +30 2292 0 62234 Email: gthemistocleous@dow.com

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SME PROJECTS

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Prisme² stands for Promoting Res­ ponsibility in SMEs, where the squared symbol implies redoubled effort through the involvement of employers and workforce. Reflecting this, the founding consortium members included not only Cefic but the European Chemical Employers’ Group (ECEG) and the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF), Cefic’s partners in the EU chemical sector social dialogue.

Bernard Thier, Cefic Responsible Care manager, explains that the stimulus to create prisme2 came from the European Commission, which early last year asked stakeholders in Brussels to propose and develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes for SMEs in specific industry sectors. Cefic, with many years’ experience with Responsible Care, reacted quickly in putting together a consortium to bid for EU funding.

Hubert Mandery, Cefic

Prisme2 aims to support small and mediumsized enterprises in implementing Responsible Care.

The original consortium also included the Centre for Tomorrow’s Company, a UK-based think tank that focuses on SMEs and the issue of sustainability, and consul­ tancy IFOK, which helps Cefic manage the programme. These have now been joined in the programme by the likes of BASF, Dow Chemical, Rhodia, Solvay and Unipetrol from the producer side, and a number of national trade associations, including those from the six countries which have volunteered to pilot the scheme, namely the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Greece, Spain and the UK. Other organisations taking part in prisme2 include the European Industry Solvent Group (ESIG), which joined in June this year, and the European Agency for Health & Safety at Work (EU-OSHA), an EU body based in Bilbao, Spain, with which Cefic is collaborating on a number of initiatives.

These partners, explains Thier, bring their expertise to the scheme, by taking part in national workshops and providing SHE management tools that are suitable or can be refined for use specifically by SMEs. EMCEF contributes by involving the national trade unions in the workshops and by assessing the prisme2 materials as regards employees’ needs.

In 2009 workshops have been held in Germany, in June and December, in

Greece, in May and July, in Slovakia in June, in the Czech Republic, immediately following the Cefic Responsible Care annual meeting in Prague this October, and in Spain in December. In the UK the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) introduced prisme2 in several regional “Responsible Care cell” workshops.

The tool box is a vital part of prisme2, as it represents a store of tools and best practice that SMEs can access as they begin to engage with Responsible Care. Tools are already being gathered from EU and national associations and other industries and these will be reviewed, consolidated and translated, before being made easily available through the prisme2 website.

The tool box covers a number of separate areas, including technical information, management procedures, and auditing and training modules. Examples are the recent CIA guidance on process safety and a range of risk assessment tools from EU-OSHA which help the move towards a sustainable prevention culture in the workplace.

Thier admits there is a long journey ahead to establish good contacts with the many thousands of SMEs in the chemical sector in Europe. There are 450 SME members of Cefic, he notes, but when contacted by Cefic about prisme2, only seven replied.

This is why the prisme2 approach of working through the national associations and organising national workshops has been adopted, so as to reach the SMEs via their own local associations.

“The workshops are free of charge to SMEs and even a membership in the organising association is not required.

But many managers in SMEs are not aware of the initiative; others are simply not used to getting involved in industry associations’ activities,” declares Thier.

By May 2010, the timetable calls for completion of the pilot stages and preparation for roll-out of the SME approach to additional countries across Europe. The learning so far is that invitations to workshops are not enough. In the words of Cefic’s Responsible Care chairman Jean-Paul Peres: “We have to talk the same language, start small and go to the SMEs.”

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Retirement

Responsible Care at Cefic – a personal review After five years as head of Cefic’s Build Trust programme council, Daniel Verbist is retiring from the association.

Here he presents a personal view of his time overseeing Europe’s Responsible Care activities I have had the privilege to work with Responsible Care for many years, first with my national chemical association in Belgium and then, for the past five years, at Cefic.

At the end of this latter period, I think we can be proud of a number of achievements and underline a few major challenges for the years to come.

First, we have strengthened the European Responsible Care organisation and incorporated it into the new Cefic structure of programme councils (PC) and strategy implementation groups (SIGs).

The integration of Responsible Care into the Build Trust PC turned out to be very beneficial for both. We achieved an effective decision-making process – very similar to the process of the new treaty of the European Union – without which several of the achievements mentioned here would not have been possible.

Second, we embarked on a serious engagement of dialogue with our stakeholders on three outstanding issues of societal concern: nanotechnologies, climate change and the implementation of Reach through the value chain. This is the objective of our SIG Stakeholder Engagement, but it has also improved our work on Responsible Care in which we now involve trade unions, European and national institutions, academia, NGOs and other public stakeholders.

Third, we extended the scope of Responsible Care geographically and have now included Russia in the family, with more countries to come in the near future.

In addition, in line with the Responsible Care Global Charter, Responsible Care is now branded as “our commitment to sustainability”. Endorsed

by the ICCA board in February 2009, we are working on the global implementation of this which underlines the broadened relevance of Responsible Care.

And, we extended Responsible Care in the value chain and started new initiatives with the distribution and transport sectors.

Fourth, we reach out to SMEs and are currently engaged in shaping Responsible Care to be easier to implement in smaller businesses. In 2008 we launched a special Responsible Care award for SMEs and with the prisme2 project we bring all relevant partners together to promote responsibility amongst SMEs. And finally, our industry is now recognised as an enabler of solutions for a sustainable future, among others by Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This recognition and our commitment to “walk the talk” would be unthinkable without Responsible Care.

We are now looking ahead to 2011, the “International Year of Chemistry”.

This will be a unique occasion to work with schools, the scientific community, trade unions and all interested partners to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability and attract young talents that our industry depends on.

I wish you many successes over the next decade.

Daniel Verbist, head of Cefic’s Build Trust programme since 2005

Our industry is now recognised as an enabler of solutions for a sustainable future. This recognition and our commitment to “walk the talk” would be unthinkable without Responsible Care.

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SMEs – ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Energy saving fits all sizes

STOCK.XCHNG

Cefic has launched a new project to help small and medium-sized enterprises improve their energy efficiency, as part of a European Commission programme. John Baker reports

As a considerable user of energy, the chemical industry has focused for many years on reducing usage and increasing efficiency in this area. The larger producers have made significant improvements over the years. Indeed, energy use per unit of product has decreased by more than 50% since 1990.

These SMEs, explains Andrea Weigel, who heads up the initiative for Cefic, account for 30% of the total sales in the chemical sector in Europe and 20% of energy consumption in the sector, which accounts for 1 x 1018 joules each year of feedstock and fuel. This is equivalent to 11m tonnes of oil.

But there remains significant potential, especially at Europe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Recent initiatives in the UK and the Netherlands amongst chemical SMEs have shown that there are considerable energy savings to be made. The UK energy efficiency audits showed that energy efficiency can be improved by 15%, with one third of this achievable through projects with a payback period of less than three years.

“For certain chemicals, energy costs can be up to 60% of production costs, therefore enhanced energy efficiency should be an essential part of any good business plan, especially for a chemical SME”, she says. “Energy efficiency makes perfect business sense for SMEs.”

Recognising this, and spurred on by the recent report of the European Commission’s High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Chemical Industry, Cefic has obtained funding from the European Commission to start up the CARE+ project, designed to promote the efficient use of energy to the vast numbers of SMEs across Europe.

The CARE+ project is part of the Commission’s Intelligent Energy for Europe (IEE) initiative, which is itself part of its Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.

Cefic has decided to include CARE+ in its Responsible Care programme given its environmental as well as economic goals. As Weigel explains: “Energy efficiency is an important part of Responsible Care… both initiatives are mutually supporting and the CARE+ logo hints at this link.”

Andrea Weigel, Cefic

For certain chemicals, energy costs can be up to 60% of production costs, therefore enhanced energy efficiency should be an essential part of any good business plan, especially for a chemical SME. 8 Cefic Responsible Care Annual Report 2009

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SMEs – ENERGY EFFICIENCY

CARE+ project team Coordination: Cefic Management assistance: Delta Energy and Environment (UK) Partners Italy: SC Svilupo Chimica (part of Federchimica), Certiquality, Ilsa, Evonik Goldschmidt Italia Bulgaria: Bulgarian Chamber of the Chemical Industry, Energy Efficient Services, Kaumet, Agria Poland: Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry, KAPE (Polish National Energy Conservation Agency), Silikony Polskie, Fosfan

In backing this scheme, the European Commission has recognised that SMEs need a specific approach to reach out to them, as they are less involved in associations or groupings.

In addition, SMEs often lack personnel and energy management structures, which makes it more difficult to address the right contact person and nobody feels responsible for energy savings. Therefore, energy efficiency initiatives need to be able to reach and convince the management of SMEs to be effective.

Established last year the CARE+ project for the chemical industry has a twostage approach. Initially, it is assessing the needs and developing best practices and appropriate delivery mechanisms for SMEs, using pilot projects in Bulgaria, Italy and Poland. The materials developed will be tested with two SMEs in each of these countries (see Table) and, once refined in the light of experience, will be rolled out to other SMEs in these countries. The longer term aim will, of course, be to further internationalise the initiative across Europe.

Cefic and its partners in CARE+ are developing two main tools: Energy Efficiency Best Practices and a SelfAudit Guide. These should be ready by the end of this year. In addition, the project will offer training and auditing to SMEs, to determine energy efficiency reserves with companies and to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of improved practices and technologies.

The material has already been trialled with several SMEs. One company taking part is Silikony Polskie. Here, Rafal Muskus, member of the board, notes that: “Thanks to the CARE+ Energy Efficiency Self Audit, we found energy savings in our administrative buildings which will reduce heat consumption by around 27%. This will help us to improve the profitability and energy efficiency of our business.”

Andrea Weigel is hopeful the results of CARE+ will be widely applicable.

“The partners will explore further options and mechanisms to create an international initiative. This will aim at disseminating the energy efficiency material developed not only in other EU countries, but even beyond European borders.”

In this respect, the link between CARE+ and Responsible Care will prove a useful benefit.

For more information, go to www.cefic. org/careplus

Why energy efficiency is important

Chemical SMEs can have energy costs of up to 25% of their total production costs. With a strategic focus on energy efficiency, energy cost can be reduced by 10% to 20%. Take as an example a chemical company with an

annual sales volume of ∈25m, an energy bill of ∈4m, and a net profit of ∈2m. A 10 % reduction in energy costs will improve the bottom line results and the return on sales by 15%.

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SECURITY

Safe and secure Maintaining safety and security at chemical plants and of chemical products is vital as terrorists and criminals threaten to target the industry. Security has now been brought under the Responsible Care umbrella, reports Mark Whitfield At the end of 2008, Cefic became leader of a consortium of eight organisations established to develop and implement the “IMPROVE” project. This project is

and acting as project manager of the IMPROVE project, explains that: “The IMPROVE project is a follow-on from the earlier ‘SECURE-SITE’ initiative that

Neil Harvey, CIA

The code of conduct contains a list of requirements that companies must fulfill as part of a common regulatory process – if they do this they’re doing their bit for security. financially supported by the European Commission and seeks to enhance communication of security best practice in chemical plants and associated critical infrastructure.

The project is addressing the need for such advice as a result of a number of EU legislative initiatives in the field of protection of European critical infrastructures.

Although the recent Council Directive 2008/114/EC does not yet address the chemical sector and focuses on energy and transport, another initiative, the Commission’s CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) Action Plan, strongly focuses on the chemical industry.

During the discussions it rapidly became clear that any guidance would preferably be linked to Responsible Care and therefore it was decided to incorporate security as an additional pillar in this industry initiative.

Filip Jonckheere, of Cefic’s Energy, HSE & Logistics Programme Council

was in place from December 2006 to November 2007, but in which Cefic did not participate. IMPROVE which runs from December 2008 to May 2010, is being supervised by Cefic’s Security Issue Team. This will ensure that input from the chemical industry is provided in order to ensure that the guidance, resulting from the project, will allow companies to carry out a proper security vulnerability assessment and take appropriate measures.”

There are eight working packages dealing with various aspects of the project and led by one of the consortium members, which in addition to Cefic include for example INERIS, EU Select and a number of security organisations of several EU states.

One of the more important packages is the development of a methodology to analyse the security vulnerability of a site in Europe involving a number of consecutive steps such as facility characterisation, threat assessment, assets

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SECURITY

and vulnerability analysis, identification of additional countermeasures, etc.

suggests “only sell if you know your customer.”

The work involves also visits to two selected sites to assess the applicability of the proposed risk assessment methodology on the security management systems in place. The findings of these visits have been evaluated and were discussed by consortium members at a workshop on 19 November where the goals of the IMPROVE project were refined.

“Rather than telling people what to do, the document asks compliance officers to question their existing procedures and challenge themselves as to whether they’re doing all they can,” Harvey adds.

It is the aim of the project to publish a report to the European Commission by May 2010 and disseminate a best practice guide through Cefic’s membership and national organisations.

Product safety too

Good stewardship of chemical products is equally important. According to Neil Harvey, head of international trade at the UK’s Chemical Industries Association (CIA): “Potentially, the problem is very serious – highly toxic or explosive substances always need a cautious approach.”

Lorry loads of bulk chemicals are unlikely to be targeted by terrorists needing the chemicals, but on the other hand a terrorist may attempt to blow up a tanker of, for example, chlorine, he explains.

In August 2009, the CIA and the UK chemical distributors’ association Chemical Business Association (CBA) published detailed product stewardship guidance for their members.

Restrictions on trade and vigilance of staff involved in selling chemicals are of prime importance and the guidance includes a checklist for compliance officers recommending that they carry out a regular audit to ensure that standards to international conventions are maintained. In terms of administering chemicals sales, the guidance

Companies can either prevent access or maintain records of transaction.

Some internet market places have systems in place that monitor purchases made by customers so, for example, if an unknown buyer were to purchase some glass vessels one day then chemicals a couple of days later that could be converted, a warning automatically displays. “The use of the internet is, in my view, the biggest threat for society from people who want to be terrorists,” warns Harvey.

“The code of conduct contains a list of requirements that companies must fulfil as part of a common regulatory process – if they do this they’re doing their bit for security,” he concludes.

KEVIN SAIDLER

“So at one end of the scale, small amounts of chemicals such as explosives precursors may be needed by terrorists and at the other the industry has the need to physically protect large volumes.”

“The European chemical industry is fairly steady, you don’t get new players very often and it is easy to check the bona fides of industry entrants,” he says.

“But this is a global industry. Once a relationship is established there is less need to continue to check. Security services are monitoring those people most likely to cause a threat but they can’t know everyone so it is important to have restrictions on the sale of chemicals in place.”

Filip Jonckheere, Cefic

One of the more important packages is the development of a methodology to analyse the security vulnerability of a site in Europe involving a number of consecutive steps such as facility characterisation, threat assessment, assets and vulnerability analysis, identification of additional countermeasures, etc.

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ANNUAL CONFERENCE

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Prague spotlight focuses on nanomaterials and logistics Nanomaterials and chemical logistics featured prominently at this year’s Cefic European Responsible Care conference, held in Prague on 21-23 October.

John Baker reports

Delegates and presenters were both busy in the Prague meeting sessions

Design and use of nanomaterials is leading to new technologies with potential to answer many of society’s challenges, such as climate change, energy conservation and water treatment. But there are growing concerns over potential negative environmental and health impacts.

The chemical industry is well aware that its vigorous, innovative drive may

well be stymied if the public’s concerns over potential risks outweigh their appreciation of the benefits. Regulators are already concerned over workplace exposures and potential public health effects of products containing nanomaterials.

Speaking at the Prague meeting, Laurent Bontoux of the European Commission’s directorate-general for

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ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Reducing transport impacts The Responsible Care Global Charter urges companies to extend Responsible Care through the value chain, noted JeanPaul Peres, chairman of Responsible Care at Cefic. But, while transport safety has been a cornerstone of the initiative for many years, the environmental impact of transport is growing, especially in the light of global warming.

The issue is a serious one, noted Professor Alan McKinnon of HeriotWatt University in the UK, as road transport is predicted to grow substantially over the next 40 years, as transport needs increase in absolute terms, compounded by the shift from rail and water transport to road. Already, freight transport accounts for 8% of all energyrelated CO2 emissions.

With governments looking for huge cuts in emissions by 2050 – up to 80% overall – transport operators and freight specifiers need to play their part in what he calls “decarbonising freight transport”. This presents a huge challenge for freight management, he said.

One of the biggest cuts could come through the electrification of transport with low or zero carbon electricity, i.e. electric vehicles powered by wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen or other carbon-free energy sources. But, he warned, better battery technology is needed and progress is slow.

Smaller cuts could come from reduced transport intensity, increased fuel efficiency (through truck and engine design and driver training), improved vehicle loading and a shift back to intermodal freight. The industry could also reduce the run rate of empty trucks and increase the average weight load factor of vehicles, by improved packaging and loading practices and use of large trucks.

But these, warned McKinnon, have the propensity to shift more freight to road, away from rail.

But one of the more effective ways, he explained, would be simply to slow down the supply chain and get away from the pressure of just-in-time delivery. This

would allow deliveries to be timed more efficiently and loads to be maximised.

Alain Avau, head of chemicals supply chain in Europe for Solvay and a member of Cefic’s logistics strategy implementation group (SIG), sided with McKinnon by saying that there are major challenges in addressing sustainable transport of chemicals, not least in that customers continue to demand faster and more agile supply chains.

The need for transport will thus stay.

Indeed, figures suggest, he said, that freight transport volume will continue to grow by around 2.5%/year over the next 10 years, faster even that GDP. This makes efficiency in the supply chain vital. Supply chain and logistics costs represent 10% of total turnover of the chemical industry.

With this background, Cefic’s activities in the logistics area fall into four key priorities, explained Avau: • the development of best practices, in such areas as cargo securing, learning from accidents, RailTech, transport equipment and driver treatment and waiting times • advocating the chemical industry’s position in relation to policy, legislation and regulation • promotion & communication of best practices • development of services and systems such as SQAS, Transperanto, ERICcards and ICE Emergency Response.

“These priority areas are currently being reviewed,” he explained, by the logistics SIG, as part of its regular three-yearly review process. Recent successes, he noted, include advocacy on 44 tonne vehicle weights and cargo securing, and the SQAS system, which now has 70 accredited assessors and has made 3,000 assessments and 16,000 consultations and continues to grow. Cefic and ECTA have also developed a series of best practice guidelines, covering such areas as security, logistics performance reporting and behaviour-based safety.

Michael Cooke, Univar Europe’s director for safety, health, environment and quality, stressed the importance of SHE in the distribution sector and asked whether Responsible Care can help here.

He pointed out that distributors regularly store, blend and even manufacture chemicals and have around 100 Seveso regulated sites across Europe.

“There is the potential for large scale incidents and our reputation can be severely damaged. Moreover, bureaucratic and excessive regulatory control can follow incidents. Therefore Responsible Care is important to distributors; and it is important that customers see to it that distributors are supportive.”

Professor Alan McKinnon, Heriot-Watt University

Cooke described how Univar has developed a combined SHEQ management system called U+, which has, he claimed, delivered significant improvements in just three years. “It is a continuous improvement programme, and includes aspects of supplier management and customer services. Product stewardship is a key part of the programme.”

But, said Cooke, Univar was a founder member of Responsible Care programmes in several EU countries and has programmes running in all its operating companies. “A strong Responsible Care programme is good for our industry, but industry needs to get more out of it, from the regulators, insurance sector and customers.”

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ANNUAL CONFERENCE

❯❯ health and consumers stressed that

there is still a long way to go in developing risk-assessment methods for the wide range of nanomaterials and their applications.

“There is no generally applicable paradigm for nanomaterial hazard identification,” he explained, adding that “the Commission is therefore recommending a case-by-case approach”, using substance-specific data.

There is still a need for better definitions of what constitutes a nanomaterial and how these can be characterised in detail.

Current thinking at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has identified no fewer than 17 characteristics that are possibly relevant to nanoparticle toxicity, including particle size, shape and distribution, specific surface area, surface reactivity and composition, and so on.

And there is a huge need for more new data and data sharing, Bontoux said.

Issues that need addressing include size thresholds, production levels, dose metrics and dose responses, and functionality of surfaces, he added.

Chemical producers with a stake in the new technology need to engage positively with this task. And, moreover, they need to communicate effectively and transparently with stakeholders and the public to build confidence in the new technology. To do this requires balanced communication, suggested Professor Lynne Frewer of the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands.

Impact assessments of new technologies are increasingly focusing on both the risks and benefits, and both sides need to be presented. It is no use, she warned, communicating only about the benefits, as this implies the truth about the risks is being hidden and public trust in the communicator will be lost. “Balanced riskbenefit communication is required.”

The meeting also heard from Emmanuelle Brun, project manager at the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Next year, she said, the EU agency will undertake

a literature review on risk perception and risk communication with regards nanotechnologies in the workplace and develop recommendations on how to communicate efficiently to promote safe and healthy production, handling and use of nanomaterials. It will cooperate with the new European Chemical Agency (ECHA) in this programme.

Also, she said, EU-OSHA will develop case studies of good practice, with guidance and tools for risk assessment and risk management at company level.

It has already published, she added, a report on workplace exposure to nanoparticles, which can be downloaded from its web site (http://osha.europe.eu).

At present, it is up to companies to develop and apply their own practices and safety procedures. Two case examples were presented by Frederic Luizi of Nanocyl in Belgium, and Hans-Juergen Wiegand of Evonik in Germany.

Nanocyl, which manufactures carbon nanotubes for use in coatings and plastics, has carried out extensive toxicological reviews of its products to ensure workers and customer safety, commented Luizi. Its risk management approach is to minimise exposure levels in the workplace, and second to monitor these closely in a number of locations and by a number of methods. It has also assessed the inhalation risk.

Wiegand then described Evonik’s six principles set out in its policy on nanomaterials, covering processes, governance, communication in the supply chain, dialogue with stakeholders, transparency and risk management. Since 2000, it has been measuring exposure to nanomaterials in the Evonik workplace and since 2006 has been taking measurements in the laboratories and applied technology centres as well.

Evonik has also, he said, been undertaking occupational medical surveillance of its workforce for many years, and has confirmed the safety of the nanomaterials it produces, including silicas, carbon black, titania and other metal oxides. The company is also ­taking part in several Reach consortia dealing with nanomaterials.

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ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Czechs celebrate 15 years of RC Prague was a fitting venue for this year’s annual Responsible Care meeting, as it allowed the organising association, the Czech chemical association SCHP CR, to celebrate 15 years of Responsible Care in the Czech Republic in style.

Pavel Svarc, president of SCHP CR, commented that from an initial 20 companies in 1994, there are now 69 Czech companies practising Responsible Care and committed to the Responsible Care Global Charter.

Perroy also noted that the EU social dialogue in the chemical sector, between employers and unions, has made real progress, with the union body, EMCEF, giving strong support to prisme2, for instance. “We have a unique collaboration in this industry.”

Stressing the importance of the social dialogue, Reinhard Reibsch, head of EMCEF, explained that EMCEF had now attended the last two Responsible Care annual conferences. It is important for

“The major companies gave strong support in the early days, but now we have a growing interest from SMEs.” The 69 companies account for half the association’s membership, which in turn represent 70% of the turnover of the Czech chemical sector, put at around €4.9bn.

Alain Perroy, then director general of Cefic, echoed this point in his welcome address. In difficult times, he noted, “we should be confident the chemical industry in Europe has the strength to overcome the challenges.

This strength includes Responsible Care and now is not the time to neglect it.

“Companies can have a competitive advantage [from Responsible Care], through lower costs, energy efficiency, reduced accident rates, and so on.”

KEVIN SAIDLER

Ladislav Novak, director of SCHP CR, added: “Responsible Care has proven to be a key success factor in positioning our industry on environmental matters during and after its transformation and privatisation process. Through Responsible Care, our member companies are able to ensure sustainable chemical business in the Czech Republic.”

Alain Perroy, Cefic

two reasons: its official EU role giving an opportunity for social partners to get involved in decisionmaking at EU level, which will grow in importance; and the industry side, where it allows employers and unions to look at the social impact of EU legislation, such as Reach.

The social dialogue has three main items on its agenda at present: cooperation on Health & Safety and Responsible Care, “a most important issue” and embodied in the agreement signed in 2003; education, training and life-long learning, and competition, employment and strategy.

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AWARDS 2009

Cefic Responsible Care Awards 2009 Three companies were recognised in this year’s annual awards: SABIC Innovative Plastics, Schering-Plough and Pentagon Chemicals. Debbie Jackson describes their winning entries The winners of this year’s Cefic Respon­ sible Care Awards were announced at the Cefic Annual General Assembly in Lisbon, Portugal. Presenting the compa­ nies with their awards, Cefic president Christian Jourquin, said: “The quantity and quality of entries in 2009 demon­ strate the added value of Responsible Care to chemical businesses and to society and the environment, especially in difficult economic times.”

Pentagon shapes up

UK-based Pentagon Chemicals won the SME award for outstanding performance progress achieved under its wide-ranging sustainable development plan.

Waste minimisation teams were estab­ lished to identify new ways to reduce solvent usage, increase product yields and improve energy efficiency. In 2008, the project resulted in an annual reduc­ tion of 1,000 tonnes of hazardous waste leaving the company through in-plant recovery and recycling, as well as raw material savings and improved output.

The project has been a real business success, delivering cost savings of £1.26m (€1.40m).

In 2008, energy consumption fell by more than 30% from 2006 levels, while carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were down more than 6,000 tonnes.

Other headline achievements include Pentagon’s strong process safety leadership and a rolling process safety improvement plan; occupa­ tional safety performance with more than 1m hours without any lost time accident (LTA) for the specialties unit, and fine chemicals into its fourth year without an LTA. Pentagon has also undertaken a number of commu­ nity projects and its working environment promotes employee engagement and development. And it is one of the first UK users of a new SAP platform that improves the com­ pany’s ability to give customers what they want, when they want.

The judges were particularly impressed by the clear busi­ ness value of the company’s actions.

SABIC renews old bottles

SABIC Innovative Plastics in the Netherlands was honoured under the general award category for develop­ ment of a novel approach to chemically upcycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into durable polybutylene terephthalate (PBT)-based products.

From initial concepts in 2006 SABIC has commercialised a family of environ­ mentally sustainable resins, Valox iQ and Xenoy iQ. End uses are still being explored but the materials have already been suc­ cessfully used in more than 20 applica­ tions in the first full year of commerciali­ sation – from automotive components and electronic devices to chopsticks.

The environmental benefits include up to 55-75% reduction of both CO2

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AWARDS 2009

emissions and energy utilisation per kilogram of PBT resin; and up to 65% carbon content from recycled waste.

PET is used in large volume applica­ tions such as beverage bottles which end up in landfill. The shelf life of these bottles is less than one year while end use may be just a matter of minutes. SABIC calculates that if all PBT utilised globally were made using its upcycling technology, it would represent an annual reduction of 1.4m tonnes of CO2 emissions; divert over 660,000 tonnes of PET waste; and save over 5m barrels of crude oil equivalent.

The jury was impressed by an innovative solution to turn used PET bottles into a raw material for durable

This year’s judging panel The 2009 panel judges were: Susan Bird, policy coordinator, DG Employment, European Commission Dirk Clotman, EuroChlor communications manager Rainer Grieshammer, director of the Öko-Institut (Institute of Applied Ecology) in Freiburg, Germany Jim Hopwood, consultant for Personal & Organizational Development, Chris Bull Associates

Joaquín Martinez, engineering manager at DuPont Asturias, Spain, representing last year’s winning company in the general awards category

Reinhard Reibsch, secretary general of the European Mine, Chemicals and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) applications and regarded the entry as an excellent demonstration on how to effectively engage in product stewardship.

Schering-Plough engagement

Schering-Plough (Avondale), Ireland – a runner-up in the 2007 award scheme – was recognised for its community engagement programme launched in 2008 which set out to provide an environmental service to the local com­ munity using the company’s technical knowledge and expertise. Target audi­ ences are schools and universities; employees’ families, friends and neigh­ bours; regulatory authorities; and other local industries.

Engagement with two local schools covers a range of activities including the collection of obsolete laboratory chemi­ cals, support for annual science days, and an energy audit of a school that

Photos left: Christian Jourquin, president of Cefic, presents the trophies to the winners of this year’s Responsible Care Awards; left to right, Pentagon Chemicals, SABIC Innovative Plastics and Schering-Plough.

enabled it to obtain grants for window and roof insulation.

As part of its commitment to improved product stewardship, the com­ pany held a “Chemcar” collection day for the local community where 2.2 tonnes of household hazardous waste was brought to the site to be properly disposed of, and established a collection bin for waste medicines on site. Site tours and regular engagement with the community on new development projects have further strengthened relations.

Other activities include research part­ nerships with the regulatory authorities and the provision of technical assis­ tance to other industries.

The judges commended this project for its efforts to engage with a wider range of stakeholders, with the focus on developing trust.

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AWARDS 2009

Other companies on the 2009 shortlist were…

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, IE

The ongoing success of its innovative marketing and communications strategy, firmly focused on environment, health and safety and known as “It’s All About You”, encouraged this welcome re-entry to the award scheme. Various initiatives under­ taken throughout 2007-08 at the com­ pany’s Newbridge site had a real impact on improving operations, empowering employees and building relations with the local community.

Aksa Akrilik Kimya, TR

Turkish acrylic fibre producer Aksa has established an impressive level of com­ munity awareness and engagement over a number of years. A community advisory panel of some 45 members from a diverse range of stakeholders has provided an effective communication channel, strength­ ened by open door events attracting around 6,000 people over the past four years.

AkzoNobel, NL

Dow Chemical fire drill

Development and implementation of a carbon policy aims to help this AkzoNobel business identify relevant process improve­ ments, the most carbon-intensive down­ stream applications, and the most carbonintensive upstream contributors in terms of energy and raw materials. Knowing the car­ bon footprint of its products has enabled prioritisation of abatement projects.

Avantium, NL

The development of “Furanics”, a new class of biobased polymers and fuels, is an innovative approach to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and reduce the world’s dependence on oil. Avantium is developing a production process based on carbohydrates from biomass including cel­ lulosics and agricultural waste streams.

BASF, DE

SEEBALANCE is a methodology developed

by BASF in partnership with two universi­ ties and the Oko-Institut to measure the social, economic and environmental impact of products and processes using a life cycle approach in order to quantify sus­ tainable development in companies. BASF

plans to use SEEBALANCE to improve performance of its product portfolio and manufacturing processes.

Bayer, DE

The Bayer Material Science (BMS) climate programme E2 (for Energy Efficiency) sets ambitious GHG reduction targets for the 2005-20 period using a new analysis instrument “Bayer Climate Check” and management method “STRUCTese” (structured efficiency system for energy).

BMS accounts for over half of Bayer Group’s energy consumption and will roll out the programme at its 12 most energyintensive plants by the year end.

Bristol Myers Squibb, IE

In late 2007, a new safety leadership team at Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cruiserath site was charged with implementing a struc­ tured process to enhance safety culture and deliver continuous improvement.

Results have shown impressive reductions in the accident and “first aid” rates.

Cinkarna Celje, SI

Titanium dioxide production at this com­ pany has traditionally involved disposal of neutralised gypsum sludge suspension into a wet landfill. Research has enabled it to invest in a new process that results in a range of products for the construction and agriculture sectors, reduces waste and saves energy. In addition, the wet landfill is being reclaimed for use.

Dow Chemical, DE

High standards of emergency prepared­ ness and response mean the likelihood of process safety incidents is fortunately low. The challenge is ensuring emergency response teams remain trained up to con­ trol incidents. Dow already cooperates with several local authorities on fire fighting drills and has now partnered with Draeger, a medical and safety technology specialist, to operate a mobile training centre.

Dow Corning, GB

An active monitoring project at Dow Corning’s Barry, South Wales, site was designed to identify key opportunities to

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AWARDS 2009

continually improve safety performance through a system of scored checklists for key risk control procedures. The judges praised the project for its inclusion of a tangible reward system for employees, opportunities for on-the-job coach­ ing, and incorporation of an effective database.

Organon, IE

In 2008, senior management developed a specific strategy focused on improvement of Organon’s safety culture at its Swords, Ireland, site. The project produced posi­ tive results and called for active employee involvement. The judges praised the monitoring aspect of this safety improve­ ment project, the use of leading as well as lagging indicators, and its focus on continuous improvement.

Panalon, ES

Transport group Pañalon – one of two members of the European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) that entered this year’s award scheme – has launched a number of Responsible Care projects related to safety, security and the environ­ ment in its liquid chemical transport division. The company is actively seeking to improve its quality systems and identify new areas for improvement.

Rhodia, FR

At Rhodia’s site in Salindres, France, the €2m installation of a thermal oxidation unit made a huge difference to GHG emissions: since last year, monitoring has shown a 90% reduction during produc­ tion of trifluoroacetic acid. The target is to eliminate emission of 1.68m tonnes of CO2 equivalent over a full year; of this 12% is recognised by the UN Framework for Climate Change, giving Rhodia car­ bon credits for 2008-12 to finance the investment.

Robinson Brothers, GB

This long-term programme involved a complete overhaul of the business model to transform Robinson Bros into a sustain­ able company. The company’s strategy involved “massive changes” in culture, facilities, technology and operations, and resulted in a halving of both energy usage and CO2 emissions. The judges said this entry offered a good model for other European SMEs.

Solvay, BE

Medexis (Medical and Exposure Information System) is a global system for managing information used by occupa­ tional physicians and hygienists, and aims to ensure the protection and well-being of all Solvay employees. Developed in a SAP environment, Medexis is fully integrated with other SAP modules such as product safety and human resources databases, and can be extended to environmental and safety issues.

Taminco, BE

Amines production and marketing company Taminco embarked on an allround energy saving scheme at its Ghent, Belgium, site in 2008. A new production facility enabled a substantial capacity increase while reducing energy consump­ tion by 50%, as well as cutting CO2 emissions by 15,000 tonnes/year. A new cogeneration unit further reduces GHG emissions and supplies the site’s electric­ ity and steam requirements.

Vinavil, IT

This entry focused on a research project to eliminate the use of solvents in paints and primers through the development of a product line based on nanolatexes.

Vinavil’s activities have enabled it to develop water-based nanolatexes with the required performance, enabling their substitution in coatings including exterior wood paints.

Organon safety culture

Vos Logistics, NL

In the second submission from an ECTA member, Vos highlighted its investment in trucks fuelled with liquefied natural gas (LNG) to ensure long-term security of supply and because natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel from “well to wheel” – cutting out soot and benzene emissions altogether and reducing emissions of CO2, nitrogen oxide and sulphur.

Zeochem, CH

Energy saving and CO2 emission reduc­ tion was at the heart of this project submitted by the Swiss silica gel and zeolites manufacturer. Under a longterm programme, the SME introduced improvements resulting in a 15% drop in emissions; installation of heat exchang­ ers, insulation and other initiatives also brought energy savings.

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LOGISTICS

Responsible Care on the road The chemical industry is stepping up its efforts to expand Responsible Care along the supply chain, in close cooperation with chemical distributors, transport service providers and their respective European associations, reports Mark Whitfield Strong commitment to improve the safety and environmental standards of chemical transport and logistics is reflected in the increasing adoption of Responsible Care along the supply chain.

“One area that has recently attracted a lot of attention is the need to address the carbon footprint of transport operations in the European chemical industry, balanced with pressures on cost and the requirement for fast and agile supply chains,” points out Jos Verlinden, director of logistics at Cefic.

Jos Verlinden, Cefic

One area that has recently attracted a lot of attention is the need to address the carbon footprint of transport operations in the European chemical industry, balanced with pressures on cost and the requirement for fast and agile supply chains.

“This is a relatively new issue for Cefic.

Until now the attention of the chemical industry has been focused on energy use and emissions in production.”

Worldwide, 30% of carbon emissions are generated by transport, although freight transport accounts for only a fraction of that. However, transport is now the only area with an expanding carbon footprint.

“It is essential to transport raw materials to production sites for processing and then deliver the end products to the customer. So, accepting the requirement for transport, we need to look at the areas where we can gain the most.

The first thing to do is for industry to measure its emissions of the different transport modes and streams. Cefic is still in the phase of developing this measurement system,” says Verlinden.

At a Cefic workshop on 3 November, Professor Alan McKinnon from Edinburgh Heriot-Watt University presented the results of a study he has carried out on behalf of Cefic on “measuring and managing CO2 emissions from the transport of chemicals in Europe”. At the same workshop, Professor Jan Fransoo from Technical University Eindhoven shared the results of his recent research on “measuring and regulating carbon emissions in transportation”.

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LOGISTICS

Fortunately, in many cases reducing transport emissions goes hand in hand with reducing transport costs. One example of this is the use of vehicles of higher weight. Two years ago, the European Commission, in its Freight Action Plan, announced that it would investigate a possible revision of Directive 96/53 on vehicle weights and dimensions.

Cefic is advocating an increase of the authorized weight to 44 tonnes for road transport and to 50 tonnes for intermodal transport across Europe. Since heavier vehicles entail fewer journeys, this would result in less road conges-

Survey In March this year, Cefic carried out a survey on the level of knowledge and implementation of its best practices amongst its members: responses were received from 73 individuals and 38 companies.

One of the key conclusions Cefic took from the responses was that it needs to communicate more actively in promoting the best practices it has developed to tion, less emissions, lower costs and increased efficiency.

Verlinden says that in 2007 there was an acute shortage of drivers in most countries. While this is presently not the case due to the economic downturn, it is likely that industry will face an even bigger shortage of drivers once the economy picks up again. Therefore, a joint Cefic/European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) working group has developed recommendations to reduce waiting times for drivers at (un)loading sites. This should lead to a more efficient use of vehicle and driver time.

The new guidelines will contain 25 recommendations on how to improve working processes and equipment and working conditions for drivers at loading/unloading sites. The guidelines are expected to be published end 2009.

SQAS review

One of the key programmes in Responsible Care in transportation is Cefic’s Safety and Quality Assessment System (SQAS) for logistics service providers. “SQAS is a highly successful scheme involving third party assessments, that is considered as industry practice in most chemical companies and is supported by the transport industry,” Cefic’s SQAS manager, Marc Twisk, says. Currently, more then 3,600 SQAS assessments have been carried over the past eight years.

The different stakeholders involved in SQAS met in May 2009 to have a brain improve safety, security and environmental standards in transport and logistics.

There were significant variations in the responses between initiatives. For example, while 69% of respondents had extensive knowledge of behaviour-based safety (BBS) in loading/unloading (and 26% had fully implemented the practice), less than 30% had extensive knowledge of both the ICE European Emergency Response Network and managing driver shortage.

As a response to the survey’s results, communication is playing an

increasingly important role in Cefic’s promotion of Responsible Care in transport.

It has implemented already a number of initiatives including the p ­ ublication of a logistics newsletter, presentations to national chemical associations and a series of workshops on a range of topics.

A session dedicated to logistics was included in the 2009 Cefic Responsible Care conference held in Prague in October. Logistics is also to be included in Cefic’s biennial pan-European public opinion survey on the chemical industry.

storming meeting on the SQAS programme, to assess whether the current way of working still meets the needs of the chemical industry and the assessed companies. Under this “SQAS 2010” initiative, the assessment ­questionnaires will undergo revision, resulting in one core questionnaire based on the Responsible Care ­guiding principles, along with a series of ­operation-specific questionnaires covering transport, warehousing, tank ­cleaning, etc.

In October 2009, a Cefic workshop attended by 85 people was held in Brussels that took a broader look at safe and sustainable storage in chemical warehouses. Twisk says: “We invited speakers who were not directly involved with SQAS, but this helped to provide a wider perspective on how the SQAS scheme can be applied to w ­ arehousing. ❯❯ Cefic Responsible Care Annual Report 2009 21

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LOGISTICS

ECTA The European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA) and Cefic signed an agreement for ECTA to run its own version of Responsible Care late in 2008.

The scheme was officially launched at the ECTA conference in Barcelona in February this year. Currently 27 of the 74 companies represented by ECTA have signed up to the scheme.

Rose-Marie Pype, ECTA

SQAS is a good tool for the industry to self-manage and helps identify areas for improvement.

Rose-Marie Pype, logistics manager at ECTA, explains: “The pan-European nature of the Responsible Care scheme allows our transport companies to manage their HSE improvement along the same scheme across all European countries consistent with the cross-border nature of the activities of the sector. The ECTA scheme is set up along the global guidelines and directly links the European transport companies under strong and transparent governance by ECTA. “The ECTA Responsible Care scheme was taken under peer review at the ICCA meeting in Moscow and met there successfully the critical eye of the many chemical associations represented.

“ECTA members are proud to be recognised for applying the same Responsible Care principles as their customers.

They are proud to be able to use the Responsible Care logo in their businesses and to have this show their continuous improvements.”

The association has started to promote Responsible Care across its members. Pype says that strong governance principles are a high priority for ECTA and that member companies joining the Responsible Care scheme undergo pre-entry checks to ensure

they embrace the same HSE objectives of continuous improvement.

“SQAS is a good tool for the industry to self-manage and helps identify areas for improvement,” she adds.

Pype says the economic downturn has seen logistics providers suffer a fall of 30% in business, while the equipment business has dropped by much more, even up to 70% for some equipment, most likely due to credit constraints.

“But the companies signed up to Responsible Care want to make it clear they continue to invest in safety despite the economic crisis. There is, unfortunately, no financial reward for safety at the moment in a market where some companies are pricing others out but certainly the long term will show safety management in chemical transport is the true licence to operate.”

ECTA Responsible Care members are preparing improvement plans in relation to HSE with the explicit support of their senior executives, Pype says. “It is very positive that these plans get the attention they deserve at a senior level. The improvement plans are presently being analysed and data collection programme will begin in 2010, with details of accidents and incidents being collated,” she adds.

“We will also look at the environmental behaviour of the industry and encourage members to look at ways of monitoring their carbon footprint.

The level of interest in Responsible Care is increasing and gathering momentum. We have seen a remarkable uptake of Responsible Care and we will have a good story to tell in the future.”

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LOGISTICS

❯❯ This included speakers from the

European Commission on the revision of the Seveso directive and an insurance company.

“In addition warehouse operators and chemical companies presented their approach to safe and sustainable warehousing. This provided a view on how industries can play a part in the construction and running of a warehouse before it is even built, to ensure that appropriate levels of safety and security are included in the design. The event was a great success and showed how SQAS can drive continuous improvement in warehousing.”

Over the past year, agreements with two European associations have been made on the expansion of Responsible Care into the transport and ­distribution sector. At the Responsible Care ­conference in Prague in October, Cefic and the European Association of Chemical Distributors (FECC) launched the FECC European Responsible Care programme for chemical distributors, complementing the already existing national distributor Responsible Care schemes (operational since 10 years) that are coordinated by a number of national distributor associations (see box).

In 2008, Cefic and ECTA signed an agreement that was implemented in early 2009, allowing ECTA and its member companies to become partners in Responsible Care (see box).

Looking to the future, the storage terminals, the warehousing sector and the tank cleaning industry, represented by the European Federation of Tank Cleaning Organisations (EFTCO), will be the next candidates to sign up for Responsible Care.

“There is still some work to do at European and national association level before we can extend Responsible Care to these sectors,” notes Verlinden.

“For example, there remain some concerns over the correct use of the European Cleaning Document (ECD) in the cleaning industry. EFTCO should take action on this to avoid misuses of the ECD.”

cefic-p.20-23.indd 23

Hendrik Abma, FECC

FECC has recently signed the ICCA Responsible Care Global Charter which demonstrates chemicals distributors’ commitment to Responsible Care and related health and safety initiatives.

FECC At the Cefic Responsible Care conference in Prague in October, Cefic and the European Association of Chemical Distributors (FECC) launched the FECC European Responsible Care programme for chemical distributors.

FECC director general Hendrik Abma explains: “This is a tailor-made scheme that allows chemical distributors to apply Responsible Care in countries they previously weren’t able to, particularly in eastern Europe where no national associations exist and could benefit from FECC support.”

In addition to this option, it means that national associations can use the FECC programme as their own national programme or they may decide to outsource their Responsible Care activities to FECC. The programme also addresses pan-European companies that may, with authorisation of the national association, apply to FECC for the Responsible Care logo.

A key element of the programme is the mandatory third-party verification of company’s compliance with the programme.

Through this, the programme takes advantage of rapid growth of SQAS Distributor (ESAD) assessments as one of the possible tools for the third party assessment. The steady increase in the number of assessments shows the commitment of the chemical distribution sector to their Responsible Care programme.

“Since the FECC Responsible Care programme was launched in Prague,

several members have said that they wish to participate in the scheme, both from the association and company side.

This latest action complements earlier decisions made by FECC and strengthens our commitment to Responsible Care in order to harmonise and improve environmental, health and safety standards for distribution across Europe and strengthens our commitment to sustainability,” notes Abma.

“What we are looking for from manufacturers is that they are positive in responding to these initiatives and are committed to the steps distributors are taking and applying themselves. What we are seeing is a very significant development in Responsible Care in chemicals distribution.”

“FECC and its members want to play a full role in Responsible Care. FECC has recently signed the ICCA Responsible Care Global Charter which demonstrates chemicals distributors’ commitment to Responsible Care and related health and safety and product stewardship initiatives.” he concludes.

On a global scale, in March this year, the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and the International Council of Chemical Trade Associations (ICCTA) signed an agreement to cooperate in the promotion of their respective Responsible Care and Responsible Distribution initiatives. Both bodies have adopted these initiatives and are promoting them in countries around the world.

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GLOBAL PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP

ICCA presents SAICM progress The chemical industry presented its progress on implementation of product stewardship to the ICCM-2 meeting in Geneva in May. John Baker reports on the events that took place Senior chemical industry personnel from around the globe were out in force in May this year, as the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) delivered a progress report on its product stewardship commitments to the second International Conference on Chemical Management (ICCM-2) in Geneva, Switzerland.

These commitments, designed to improve the responsible handling of chemicals throughout the value chain, are embodied in the ICCA’s Global Product Strategy (GPS) and its Responsible Care Global Charter, launched in 2006 at ICCM-1 in Dubai.

They are the industry’s contribution to the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management programme, a voluntary, multi-stakeholder initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

ICCA described the Geneva meeting as a “landmark event” for the organisation. “The turnout of a number of CEOs together with the heads of the industry associations of Australia, the US, Europe, Japan and South Africa Achim Steiner, UNEP

Chemicals are part of our lives and will continue to be part of our lives… The world would be worse off without chemicals, take that as a given.

helped reinforce our commitment to the SAICM process,” it noted.

Besides taking part in the official activities of the ICCM-2 meeting, ICCA hosted a high-level roundtable discussion on the Thursday evening of the main event, on the topic of “Working together to achieve the vision of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and SAICM success”.

Eight CEOs took part (see panel) as well as the director general of the Japan Chemical Industry Association. They faced some tough questioning, as they were joined on the panel by a number of key stakeholder representatives, including Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP, and Mario Amano, the deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Also taking part were Tony Long from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Joe DiGangi from the Environmental Health Fund.

Steiner described the meeting as “an extraordinary event… The fact that nine [sic] CEOs of the global chemical industry are together in one place at the SAICM ICCM-2 conference is the strongest sign of commitment I have seen in a long time. I am looking forward to a new level of cooperation with industry.”

The panel session provided the industry with an opportunity to present the increasingly broad range of SAICMrelated activities driven by ICCA’s GPS and Global Charter to between 150 and 200 participants.

BASF chairman Jurgen Hambrecht pointed out that a sustainable chemicals industry is essential to addressing the issues around the globe, such as sustainable use of natural resources, reduction

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GLOBAL PRODUCT STEWARDSHIP

of waste and emissions and safety of chemicals. “We truly believe that chemicals are part of the solution.”

Jurgen Hambrecht, BASF

A sustainable chemicals industry is essential to addressing the issues around the globe, such as sustainable use of natural resources, reduction of waste and emissions and safety of chemicals.

Steiner added that: “Chemicals are part of our lives and will continue to be part of our lives… The world would be worse off without chemicals, take that as a given.” But, he challenged the industry to do more.

OECD’s Amano commented that: “Global chemical safety can only be achieved through cooperation and contribution of all involved. I am convinced such as collaboration will go a long way to achieving the WSSD goal.” However, WWF’s Long said he was concerned at the lack of urgency and lack of detail shown by the ICCA report.

To recognise its valuable contribution to SAICM implementation, ICCA was presented at Geneva with a UNEP Bronze Award. This, notes ICCA, is a contribution we intend to strengthen and build on as we move forward.”

Progress towards 2020 goal

The objectives of ICCA’s efforts on product stewardship are to improve industry performance and reputation and to position the industry as a constructive contributor to implementation of SAICM. With GPS, ICCA has committed itself to improve risk assessment and risk management procedures and practice.

The overall goal is to meet the target set at the 2002 WSSD, namely that: “By the year 2020, chemicals will be used in ways that minimise significant adverse impacts on the environment and human health.”

Over the past year, its Chemical Policy & Health Leadership Group has made significant strides towards developing guidance to implement GPS. It was also instrumental in preparing the progress report for the ICCM-2 meeting.

ICCA was able to report a range of specific achievements, including: • Development of a comprehensive set of guidelines for product stewardship • Definition of a base-set of hazard and exposure information

for chemicals in commerce and development of detailed technical guidance to help companies define safe use conditions • Providing capacity building for small and medium-sized companies in the chemical sector as for downstream users and governments in developing countries.

Ongoing work includes testing the workability of detailed technical guidance for SMEs in developing countries.

ICCA will use the experience gained from this testing and refine its guidance to expand GPS implementation in a prioritised manner with the goal of full implementation by 2020. It will also engage in longer-term capacity building to improve the competency of SMEs and provide outreach to developing countries.

As ICCA president Jourquin commented in Geneva: “Our voluntary efforts imply impressive in-kind contributions, demonstrating… that our industry is a reliable, willing and responsive partner in meeting global sustainability objectives.”

Industry participants on the panel Christian Jourquin, Solvay and president of ICCA and Cefic Jurgen Hambrecht, BASF Mohamed Al Mady, SABIC Bernardo Gradin, Braskem Ben van Beurden, Shell Chemical

David Kepler, Dow Chemical David Weidman, Celanese Reiner Groh, Sasol Tetsuo Nishide, director general of the Japan Chemical Industry Association Cefic Responsible Care Annual Report 2009 25

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Performance data

Indicators continue to show progress Accurate reporting of performance is at the heart of Responsible Care. In Europe, Cefic collects data on the industry’s health, safety and environmental performance Open reporting enables companies and associations to share best practice and so improve their performance. Currently, Cefic collects data on 16 key performance indicators.

In 2008, 21 European associations reported their 2007 national Responsible Care data into the new reporting system set up by Cefic and the ICCA: Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France,

Health and safety at work

Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK. The collection of 2008 data was not completed at the time this report was printed. On these pages you will find data on selected indicators.

All data are available on www.cefic.org/ responsiblecare

Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate: 20 countries Tonnes

Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate

The lost time injury frequency rate (LTIR) continues to show year-on-year improvement and in 2007 was 5.73, the lowest on record. The LTIR is reported as the number of accidents resulting in one day or more out of work per million worked hours. The European LTIR is based on national LTIRs from 20 countries.

2007

2005

2003

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

Environment

Many chemical companies have already succeeded in significantly reducing emissions from their operations. Further substantial reductions may be difficult to achieve. It is also possible for the amount of emissions to change due to higher ­production volume in 2007.

Emissions to air

Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and the hydrogen fluorocarbons (HFCs) are the three major gases with global warming potential (GWP) listed in the Kyoto Protocol that are emitted by the chemical industry in Europe.

Carbon dioxide with a GWP of 1 is released primarily from the burning of fossil fuels as energy sources. Also taken into account are the carbon dioxide emissions associated with purchased electricity consumption.

Only 16 national associations reported their total CO2 emissions for 2007 (162.8m tonnes). Eleven organisations reported their nitrous oxide emissions (24.6m tonnes in CO2 equivalents) and seven provided data on HFCs (0.8m tonnes in CO2 equivalents).

26 Cefic Responsible Care Annual Report 2009

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Performance data

Sulphur dioxide (SO2)

Sulphur dioxide contributes to atmospheric acidification, the main contributors being combustion plants and refineries. For 2007, our matched sample of 19 countries shows a significant reduction of 8.8% since the year before and 22.5% since 2003, the baseline year.

SO2 emissions in % (2003=base) – 19 countries

Nitrogen oxides (NOx)

NOx gases contribute to atmospheric acidification and have the potential to contribute to photochemical ozone creation. Our matched sample of 19 countries shows for 2007 a reduction of 12% since 2006 and 20.5% since 2003.

NOx emissions in % (2003=base) – 19 countries

%

Tonnes

%

NMVOCs emissions in % (2003=base) – 20 countries

167,776

218,494 2005

2005

196,365

240,045 2003

2003

211,159

281,969 0

50

100

0

150

50

NMVOCs reflect the potential for photochemical ozone creation that is implicated in respiratory problems and ecological damage to plants. The matched sample (20 countries) for 2007 is lower by 36.9% since 2003.

%

Tonnes

2007

2007

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs)

100

Tonnes

2007

109,953 2005

153,167 2003

174,265

150

0

50

100

150

Wastes

Emissions to water

Hazardous and non-hazardous wastes

Nitrogen and phosphorus

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)

Hazardous Waste in % (2004=base) – 19 countries

Nitrogen to water in % (2003=base) – 19 countries

COD in % (2003=base) – 20 countries

The total tonnages of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes reported by 19 countries have decreased since 2004: The disposal of hazardous wastes has slightly decreased by 3.8%; the non-hazardous wastes have decreased by 22.9% since 2004.

%

Release of these two elements into water has the potential to result in eutrophication. Chemicals are a major source of these emissions. In our matched samples of 19 and 20 countries, respectively, 2007 nitrogen emissions to water are down by 19.5% since 2003. Phosphorus emissions have decreased dramatically by 59.5% since 2003.

%

Tonnes

2007

Tonnes

2007

2003

2003 98

100

%

0

50

100

0

150

50

100

150

Phosphorus to water in % (2003=base) – 20 countries %

Tonnes

2007

309,421

46,102

102

Non Hazardous Waste in % (2004=base) – 19 countries

249,611

38,094

4,652,049 96

223,488 2005

4,568,420

94

Tonnes of Oxygen

37,089 2005

2004

% 2007

4,475,325 2005

COD is the potential of chemical emissions to water to remove dissolved oxygen that would otherwise support fish and other aquatic life. In our matched sample from 20 countries the 2007 emissions show a reduction of about 27.8% compared to 2003.

Tonnes

2007 6,319,104

2005

1,859 2005

6,590,132 2004

3,416 2003

8,200,740 0

40

80

120

4,596 0

50

100

150

Cefic Responsible Care Annual Report 2009 27

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Responsible Care in Europe Responsible Care is our commitment to sustainability.

It is the global chemical industry’s unique voluntary initiative to improve continuously its health, safety and environmental performance and to communicate with stakeholders and through the supply chain.

The Responsible Care ethic helps chemical companies to operate safely, profitably and with due care for future generations.

Responsible Care is a protected trademark which in Europe is owned by Cefic. The use is reserved to Responsible Care companies and associations.

Cefic promotes the implementation of the Responsible Care Global Charter and is committed to create a common global vision for Responsible Care paying particular attention to sustainability and product stewardship.

Cefic’s role is to advance Responsible Care in Europe and at global level as a key ­partner of the ICCA. Our key objectives are to dialogue with our stakeholders, increase the involvement of SMEs and to extend Responsible Care throughout the value chain.

Cefic – The European Chemical Industry Council

Chemistry making a world of difference Cefic is the Brussels-based organisation representing national chemical federations and chemical companies in Europe.

Cefic represents, directly or indirectly, around 29,000 large, medium and small companies in Europe, which employ about 1.2 million people and account for more than 29% of world chemicals production.

© Cefic – December 2009 Dépot Légal – D/3158/2008/7

Cefic aisbl Avenue E. van Nieuwenhuyse 4 B - 1160 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 676 7211 Fax: +32 2 676 7300 E-mail: mail@cefic.be Website: www.cefic.org

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