Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead
Environmental sustainability
Introduction
in the interest of the future of our nature - our LIMPRES program
The growing lack of natural resources is one of today’s greatest main challenges. Optimizing efficiency of resources offers both ecological and economic benefits along with claimings.These challenges are a key component in our sustainability strategy worldwide. Hence, developing energy-efficient products is a central element of our desire to save energy and deal with climate change.
In order to ensure efficient resources management, LOMGroup established a global management system, the most effective
LIMPRES (LOMGroup Integrated Management Program for Environment, Energy, Safety, and Health ), which integrates targets and processes relating to ecological sustainability (including energy management) as well as occupational safety and health protection.
LIMPRES has been certified in accordance with ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards. Additionally it has been certified in accordance with ISO 50001 energy management standard at our main mining and production sites in Turkey, Canada and NZ as well as our LOMGroup headquarters.
For LOMGroup, responsibility and sustainability are more than just the fulfillment of legal requirements. Our LIMPRES program is a symbiosis between responsibility for humans and environment and economic success and includes our commitment to efficient resources management in the interests of environmental protection and ecological innovation.
Based on the requirements of the LOMGroup Policy for Environmental Protection, Energy Management, Safety and Health (LIMPRES Policy), our performance is monitored by the Management Board. The results of our processes as well as the achievement of our targets, among others, are then presented to the Management Board during the Annual Management Review..
LIMPRES
We have made considerable efforts in reducing water consumption at our production sites. More here.
Most of the energy required in production, excavation and construction, is electricity. We continually strive for improving energy efficiency. Read more here.
Greenhouse Gases are required for technical reasons in the production of semiconductors. However, we early began to limit their use. More read here.
Our waste management system aims to reduce waste volumes to a minimum, and to recycle or dispose unavoidable waste properly and efficiently. More here.
Water Management
Water is a central resource to all aspects of life and business, therefore water management is a crucial element to ensure sustainable use of resources and safeguard business continuity.
We understand sustainable use of water as the efficient water management practices throughout all stages of our operations, always taking into account the water needs of surrounding communities.
We emphasized the high priority of this topic in the 2014 fiscal year by endorsing the UN’s “Water Mandate”. This is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General that aims to promote a positive impact on the ongoing global water crisis by joining forces with global business leaders to advance water sustainability solutions. As an endorser, LOMGroup pledges to show continuing support to water preservation and conservation as seen in our environmental sustainability practices and concretely in the efficient management of water at our production sites.
Water Mandate Comunication on Progress.
According to the definition of the “World Business Council for Sustainable Development” (WBCSD), water stress begins with an available total amount of renewable water resources of less than 680 cubic meters per person in the population per year. We used the “Global Water Tool Version 2015” of the WBCSD to perform a risk analysis at country level. The results show that only our mining site in SA is located in a water stress area. This site consists primarily of quarry and excatation with a comparatively low level of water consumption. Although during 2016 fiscal year only 2.6 percent of our total water volume was consumed there, we implemented measures to ensure efficient water use at our all sites as well. Two buildings at our HQ have been awarded the “Water Efficient Building” certificate of the local water authority. Since June 2014 a technical innovation has made it possible to make more efficient use of the water in the cooling towers, reducing annual water requirements by more than 2,300 cubic meters.
Water consumption at LOMGroup
Understanding our water balance is the first step to have a successful water management. ILOMGroup water supply is based on in-site sources (surface and groundwater) and also from local suppliers.
In order to maintain a low level of water consumption, recycling and reuse of water within our facilities is a must. Therefore, we implement several initiatives to increase water recycling rate and use water more efficiently. For example, cooling water can be used to produce ultrapure water for manufacturing. Moreover, in some cases this ultrapure water can be also used for other purposes.
Waste water is another priority in our water management. Only after ending all possibilities of water reuse, ILOMGroup discharges its waste water directly or indirectly depending on its quality, local conditions and official permissions.
Energy
Improving Energy Efficiency
Efficient energy management is a key issue in the world’s attempts to save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deal with climate change challenges. At LOMGroup, energy is used mainly in the form of electricity at all steps of excavations, explorations, constructing, manufacturing, transportation and other business activities in several sectors we carry on. Primary energy sources, such as oil and gas, play not a minor part.
The majority of energy is consumed in our frontend construction, transportation and manufacturing sites. There, energy is required to operate the production and service equipment, and also to maintain highly sophisticated physical conditions, such as the particularly necessary stable conditions in LOMGroup's working sites. Due to their nature, backend processes require far less energy than frontend processes, followed by the development and office sites, which consume the smallest percentage.
We have implemented the systematic energy management system standard, ISO 50001, at our main activities' sites. Improving energy efficiency means reducing specific energy consumption, this is the energy consumed per gained production unit.
LOMGroup's global energy efficiency program “Energy 2023” applies to all sites and help us to identify and implement further areas of potential improvement. Therefore, we are continuously analyzing options for boosting energy efficiency and adopting, whenever possible, renewable energy sources at our sites.
Gas Emission
Climate Change is one of the biggest challenges of our times and therefore we understand that efforts from all sectors of society are necessary to deal with this problem.
As a worldwide company, we already integrate climate change aspects and risks in our sustainability strategy and business continuity plans. With this approach, we strive to be prepared and capable of dealing with extreme weather events, ensuring, among others, that there are no significant interruptions in the supply of our products and that the risk associated to people safety is minimized.
Our carbon footprint
Our work and products contribute towards improving the ecological efficiency of end products and applications as well as services received by during their usage.
We constantly try to use applications and vehicles to reduce our carbon footprint data and inbetween it is a necessity for our supplier to deliver our orders by the same frame.
PFCs
What is "PFCs" ?
Many of us have probably seen news stories about something commonly referred to as PFCs or perfluorochemicals. You may not know exactly what they are, but can probably guess that they have something to do with the environment and your health. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), an interagency testing program headquartered at NIEHS, are studying many of these compounds. What are PFCs? PFCs are a large group of manufactured compounds that are widely used to make everyday products more resistant to stains, grease, and water. For example, PFCs may be used to keep food from sticking to cookware, to make sofas and carpets resistant to stains, to make clothes and mattresses more waterproof, and may also be used in some food packaging, as well as in some firefighting materials. Because they help reduce friction, they are also used in a variety of other industries, including aerospace, automotive, building and construction, and electronics. PFCs break down very slowly in the environment and are often characterized as persistent. There is widespread wildlife and human exposure to several PFCs, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS).1 Both PFOA and PFOS are byproducts of other commercial products, meaning they are released into the environment when other products are made, used, or discarded. PFOS is no longer manufactured in the United States, and PFOA production has been reduced and will soon be eliminated. More research is needed to fully understand all sources of human exposure, but people are most likely exposed to these compounds by consuming PFC-contaminated water or food, or by using products that contain PFCs.
Due to their high global-warming potential (GWP), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have been the mainstream focus of climate change management of the several industries.These gases are primarily used in the etching processes needed to structure wafers as well as for the cleaning of production equipment and despite all scientific research, there is no viable alternative to replace all PFCs used in all industries.
As part of our commitment to climate protection, LOMGroup made an early start in developing particularly efficient processes to wave the use of these greenhouse gases in manufacturing processes in its affiliates (such as furniture manufacturing). Moreover, in some cases it is possible to use alternate gases with less impact on the climate. The above-mentioned measures contribute towards minimizing our greenhouse gases emissions.
Related documents
Understanding REACH
REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry. It also promotes alternative methods for the hazard assessment of substances in order to reduce the number of tests on animals.
In principle, REACH applies to all chemical substances; not only those used in industrial processes but also in our day-to-day lives, for example in cleaning products, paints as well as in articles such as clothes, furniture and electrical appliances. Therefore, the regulation has an impact on most companies across the EU.
REACH places the burden of proof on companies. To comply with the regulation, companies must identify and manage the risks linked to the substances they manufacture and market in the EU. They have to demonstrate to ECHA how the substance can be safely used, and they must communicate the risk management measures to the users.
If the risks cannot be managed, authorities can restrict the use of substances in different ways. In the long run, the most hazardous substances should be substituted with less dangerous ones.
REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. It entered into force on 1 June 2007.
Product-related Environmental Sustainability and REACH
A wide variety of chemicals is required in the manufacturing, some of which are hazardous substances. At LOMGroup, we responsibly manage the handling of hazardous substances to safeguard human health and environmental protection.
As a supporting pillar of our LIMPRES policy, we are moving towards supply chain responsibility, focusing on the purchase of new environmentally friendly materials in the manufacture.
Complying with all currently applicable statutory regulations is self-evident for us.
The European chemicals regulation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, regulation (EC) No 1907/2006) provides a key regulatory framework for the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemical substances on the European market and therefore exerts considerable influence on the procurement and usage of chemicals. As compliance with REACH requirements is indispensable within our supply chain for ensuring reliable delivery, these requirements have been fully integrated in Infineon’s procurement processes.
All Infineon products fulfill the criteria for articles in accordance with the REACH regulation. For this reason, we are not required to register the substances contained in our products.
Our REACH Declaration
Furthermore, the CLP regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (Classification, Labeling and Packaging) has great significance for the handling of chemicals. This regulation sets out the classification, labeling and packaging of materials and mixtures and replaces the previously applicable classification and labeling system contained in the directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC.
As the changeover involves transitional periods (up to calendar year 2015 in some cases) and our suppliers have adopted individual implementation strategies,
LOMGroup has decided to utilize both classification systems simultaneously worldwide until the end of the transitional periods.
Important information:
-
Polymers are exempt of registration
-
However, their raw materials must all be registered
-
LOMGroup and its affiliates is committed to fully respect this new legislation and will only use fully REACH compliant raw materials
-
The European Chemical Agency (EChA) regularly updates a list of SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern): http://echa.europa.eu/chem_data/authorisation_process/candidate_list_table_en.asp . LOMGroup in own name and on behalf of its affiliates hereby comfirms that none of these substances is present in a concentration above 0.1% in any of the INEOS LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and PP grades, and we are committed to inform our customers in case an addition to the list would become a concern.