Rexam reaffirms social and environmental commitments
updated Environmental and Social report outlining environmental and
social issues that are relevant to the company and the strategies
in place to manage corporate responsibility.
"Leadership of our industry brings with it many responsibilities towards the environment and the communities in which we operate," said Lars Emilson, Rexam's Chief Executive.
"The actions and plans that we have documented in these reports show that we are committed to continually improving our corporate responsibility performance, to minimising the environmental effect of our operations and to conducting business in an ethical manner."
The 19 page report outlines how the achievements targeted in 2003 were met, the importance of sustainability, progress towards ISO 14001 certification as well as a host of management and social responsibilities.
With regards the target the company set itself in 2003, the company reports that over the course of the year it has made progress in its environmental, technology and supply chain objectives. New objectives for 2004 include adoption of OHSAS principles and zero accidents.
The company did report that its environmental objectives were impacted by a leaking underground pipe at its Beauty and Pharma plant in Annecy, France, from which a quantity of trichloroethylene was accidently released. The company said it was investigating the incident in an effort to avoid a re-occurrence.
The company says that during 2004 it has done 'everything practicable to minimise impact of our manufacturing process' and that this process has been stepped up during the course of the year. Despite the reported leak it says that it has targeted further improvements for this year which it is confident of delivering.
Rexam also says that a renewed focus on ISO 14001 is being emphasised for its manufacturing facilities across the world. Further to this its operations that use glass and metal in their production facilities are reported to be largely certified. The next step is plastics, and the company says that its five manufacturing facilities in Asia have all committed to starting work on ISO 14001certification during the course of 2005, with a view to achieving it by 2008.
Key Performance indicators for raw materials, energy, and CO2 emissions have all been upgraded for 2005 in an effort to encourage recycling, reduce emission and reduce materials usage with the aim of creating a more efficient production process. Emission equivalent values were slightly down for production in 2004 - by far the biggest factor in emissions; but emissions for transport were slightly up.Rexam's Environmental and Social update 2004, is downloadable in its entirety at the company's website.
