Münster, 17 June 2013 - At regular intervals, Armacell carries out environmental assessments at all its sites throughout the world. The environmentally relevant areas of all nineteen Armacell plants were re-audited at the beginning of the year. The company was supported in this complex undertaking by ERM (Environmental Resources Management), one of the world’s leading sustainability consultancies. The audits covered all environmentally relevant topics and examined whether the individual sites comply with the legal requirements.
No material environmental issues at any of the Armacell plants
Areas addressed included environmental management, permits, air emissions, water supply and waste water, hazardous material storage and handling, waste management, restricted substances, environmental nuisances, housekeeping, explosion protection provisions and soil and groundwater conditions at the sites. ERM confirmed that there are no material environmental issues at any of the Armacell plants. Further improvements recommended by the consultants have either already been implemented or will be realized in the medium term. For example, in Münster one of the already very efficient air emission treatment units (RTO 20) has been upgraded, reducing emissions even further.
All European plants certified in accordance with ISO 14000
Environmental protection is one of the main pillars of Armacell’s corporate philosophy. It is an integral part of the business strategy and ranks equally with other company objectives. The environmental guidelines oblige all Armacell employees worldwide to behave responsibly towards the environment and conserve natural resources. To use resources as efficiently as possible, Armacell is constantly searching for ways to reduce raw material use, energy consumption and the waste rate. Intelligent systems are developed for utilizing production waste which occurs. On the way to environmental standards which are valid worldwide, in the long term all locations are to be certified in accordance with the international environmental standard ISO 14000 – all European plants already are today. At all locations, environmental protection is to be integrated in the business processes and linked to occupational safety, product stewardship and corporate citizenship. Armacell has been able to make great progress in the field of in-company environmental protection over the past years.