Environmental Protection

Every form of technical and technological activity has an impact on the environment in which we live. Ineffectiveness of such activities is often indicated by polluted environment.

Manufacturers are required to comply with sustainable development principles and contribute to protection of the natural environment. This means that they have to adopt identical, universally recognized standards of environmental protection. One of them is environmental management.

In order to use comparable supervision mechanisms in environmental management and as a part of implementation of the Company’s mission and policy related to elimination of the collateral consequences of the Company’s impact on people and the natural environment, the Company’s Management Board has decided to implement an Environmental Management System compliant with the ISO 14001 standard.

In order to ensure compliance of the Company’s operations with environmental laws, in particular to ensure its proper formal and legal status, the Company has spent the amount of approximately 40 million zlotys in 3 years to perform projects that would contribute to environmental protection. The projects have brought about measurable environmental effects, thus constituting a basis for further improvement activities as a result of which the Company gradually decreases its negative environmental impact.

The restructuring and investment activities conducted by the Company for the benefit of the environment have resulted in measurable and non-measurable ecological effects. The Company:

• has regulated its formal and legal status;
• has implemented a waste sorting and management system;
• has identified and evaluated the environmental aspects, thus specifying the areas where it has an impact on the environment;
• has identified means intended for supervision, improvement, and verification of activities related to significant aspects by implementing a process of continuous monitoring and evaluation (in a systematic, objective, and realistic manner) using environmental activity effectiveness indicators;
• has identified and is monitoring legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the Company in the area of environmental protection and associated with its business operations;
• by designing with the environment in mind, it contributes to development and creation of environmentally friendly solutions; and      
• trains its employees, which enhances their environmental awareness.

Implementation of the Environmental Management System has also resulted in economic and social benefits, such as:

• improved trust in the Company;
• increased market share as a result of improved reputation of the Company; and
• improved competitiveness of our products in the domestic and global markets.

In an effort to improve the effectiveness of its processes, including reduction to a minimum of the negative environmental impact and improvement of the effectiveness of activities conducted for the benefit of the natural environment, the Company’s Management Board is initiating further actions intended to:

• meet the requirements and satisfy the needs of the Company’s customers and other stakeholders;
• maintain good reputation and correct relations with the local community;
• effectively manage resources and energy utilities; and
• reduce the amounts paid as environmental fees.

The most important actions of the Company are those related to improvement of:

• work safety and accident prevention;
• safety of the local community;
• reliability of operation of systems;
• efficiency of solutions in the event of a breakdown; and
• safety in trade of products on all stages of production and distribution.

 With the safety of people and the environment in mind, the following documents have been prepared:

• a safety report;
• an internal operational-rescue plan;
• a breakdown prevention program;
• fire safety instructions and procedures to be followed in the event of breakdowns, damages, technical failures of equipment, and OHS hazards.

Also, the Company has an “External operational-rescue plan” prepared by the State Fire Brigade in order to eliminate consequences of breakdowns outside of the Company’s site.

All of the above are components of the Safety System, which constitutes one of the Integrated Management Systems and guarantees protection of people and the environment.