Corporate policy on quality, safety, environmental protection and health protection

Sustainable action, “Health, Safety and Environment” as well as “Quality & Continuous Improvement” are firmly anchored in Westlake Vinnolit’s vision and values. Among other things, this means constantly improving the efficiency of our processes – while consistently adhering to our environmental and quality principles.

We continuously develop our products and technologies and strive to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and offer competent solutions for all issues of our business partners. We strive for quality leadership in our business activities as well as in all corporate processes. Our product and service quality is subject to a continuous improvement process. We prevent complaints in connection with our products and services through error prevention processes.

We are committed to the basic ideas of Responsible Care and Sustainable Development and comply with all relevant laws and regulations as well as the voluntary commitments of the PVC industry. Westlake Vinnolit supports active and open dialogue with employees, neighbors and authorities as well as all interested social groups and stakeholders. Through the use of modern technologies and processes, as well as the optimized use of materials while increasing product yields and reducing losses, we push resource-saving processes. We increase our energy efficiency through process engineering and recipe improvements and the acquisition of machines and equipment with low energy requirements as well as their optimized control.

Sustainable action with regard to safety, health and the environment is anchored in all areas and includes both the provision of safe and healthy workplaces, the safe and proper operation of our plants, the protection of the environment in all activities along the product life cycle, and the prevention of occupational accidents and illnesses by eliminating hazards and minimizing risks.

The striving for continuous improvement is reflected in our environmentally oriented actions, in particular by safely complying with or falling below the approved emissions, by preventing unnecessary environmental pollution during production and transport, by the economical use of energy, raw materials and all consumables, and by the constant search for optimizations that reduce the environmental impact and risks.

The continuous further development of our own production technologies and the central management of cross-plant and cross-site processes and projects ensure uniformity, functionality and feasibility. Promoting and challenging the performance of all employees is done in accordance with our management guidelines. We assign tasks and responsibilities appropriately, according to personal and professional suitability. With targeted qualification measures, we enable our employees to adapt to changing requirements. Our Code of Conduct provides a binding framework for the actions of each individual employee.

(V2: 18.01.2021)

Operational objectives on health, safety, environment

Based on the vision and values, the strategic corporate goals and the corporate policy on quality, health, safety and environmental protection (QHSE policy), we set ourselves operational goals in the areas of health, safety and the environment.

  • Successful maintenance of certifications in the areas of quality management, health protection, environmental and energy management (ISO 9001, ISO 45001 / OHRIS, ISO 14001, ISO 50001)
  • Successful EcoVadis Sustainability Rating
  • Safe compliance with/exceedance of the maximum permissible workplace concentration of vinyl chloride (VCM)
  • No occupational accidents with lost working days
  • Sustained low accident frequency rate: at least 80% below the industry average of the German Employers’ Liability Insurance Association for Raw Materials and Chemical Industry (BG RCI, Germany)
  • No reportable events (“incidents”) in the production plants
  • No substance leaks in the production facilities with danger for the neighborhood
  • No transport accidents with release of vinyl chloride
  • Compliance with the voluntary commitment of the industry association ECVM (European Council of Vinyl Chloride Manufacturers) on environmental emissions (ECVM Industry Charter for the Production of VCM and PVC)
  • No substance leaks in the production facilities that pose a risk to the environment
  • Participation in Operation Clean Sweep (OCS) of the European plastics industry to minimize emissions of plastic granules to the environment and water bodies
  • Establishment of the 2030 energy savings target to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (by the end of 2022)
  • Climate-neutral production by 2050 at the latest

(V1: 12.08.2021)