Sustainability - News
Environmental Pact Pioneer
Munich, October 12, 2011 – Since 1995, Bavaria’s Environmental Pact has championed green business practices. Recently, the Bavaria’s State Ministry of the Environment and Public Health honored WACKER as one of the Pact’s pioneers. Since 1995, WACKER and the other founding members – companies and public authorities – have jointly promoted environmental protection in business.
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Dr. Markus Söder, Bavarian Minister for the Environment and Public Health, recognized WACKER as an Environmental Pact pioneer. Dr. Jutta Matreux, head of Corporate Sustainability, accepted the certificate.
Citing WACKER’s long-standing commitment to the Environmental Pact’s cooperative approach, Dr. Markus Söder, Bavaria’s State Minister of the Environment and Public Health, honored WACKER as one of the Pact’s pioneers on September 17, 2011. WACKER’s Dr. Jutta Matreux, head of Corporate Sustainability, accepted the certificate at Munich’s “Residenz” (Palace), where other Pact members were also honored. About 11,000 companies – with a total workforce of 263,000 – currently belong to the Environmental Pact in Upper Bavaria. For more information, please refer to:
www.umweltpakt.bayern.de
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A member of the Bavarian Pact since 1995, WACKER also participates in Bavaria’s new Pact, which runs from 2010 to 2015 under the slogan “Sustainable growth balanced by environmental and climate protection.” The Environmental Pact is an agreement between the Bavarian government and Bavarian industry, in which both parties have declared their belief that natural resources can be better protected through voluntary, responsible cooperation between industry and state rather than by laws and regulations alone. This agreement reflects the core idea of the chemical industry’s Responsible Care® initiative, which WACKER joined in 1996. Bavaria’s Environmental Pact serves as a catalyst to promote climate protection and energy conservation, sustainable mobility, environmental engineering and resource efficiency. Its primary aim is to avoid environmental pollution.
20,000 Visitors at WACKER’s Open House
Over 20,000 people took the opportunity to get a look behind the scenes at WACKER on September 24 when the company’s three German sites in Burghausen, Freiberg and Cologne had invited employees’ families and interested guests along to an open house.
The Alzwerke turbine house is filled with the sonorous rushing sound of water. Every second, thousands of liters stream from the Alz Canal into the River Salzach, which lies at a lower level. For over nearly 100 years the Alzwerke have exploited this height difference to produce clean energy for WACKER’s Burghausen plant. An impressive spec-tacle for visitors. “When would we otherwise get a chance to see something like this?” enthused Boris Hofer. He was one of the nearly 20,000 visitors who got a look behind the scenes at the Open House held on September 24 at the WACKER plants in Burghausen, Freiberg and Cologne.
Communicating Job Satisfaction
WACKER offered its guests an extensive program of events at the Burghausen site. Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. buses drove interested visitors over ninety times around the site premises. The tour featured the Alzwerke, the silicon milling operations, the Silicones Pilot Plant and the state-of-the-art logistics center. Experts were on hand in the different areas to explain what makes WACKER so successful. “We want to show that people enjoy their work here,” said Michael Killermann. The WACKER ACADEMY trainer demonstrated to the visitors how WACKER products are tailored to the special needs of different countries.
On the big stage a diverse program moderated by Bayern-3 radio presenter Roman Roell awaited the approximately 15,000 visitors. Roell discussed the history of the plant and other topics such as energy supply or the sustainability aspects of production with representatives of top management. “Burghausen is the heart of Wacker Chemie,” said CEO Dr. Rudolph Staudigl. This was where the Group’s competence is focused.
Picture Gallery
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On stage in Burghausen: Dr. Rudolf Staudigl, Wacker Chemie AG’s CEO, with radio presenter Roman Roell.
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To touch: cleanroom suits and wafers at Siltronic.
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Glimpses into the world of Siltronic in Burghausen.
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High-tech at the Burghausen site fire department.
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Exciting experiments at the WACKER ACADEMY in Burghausen.
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Everyone loved the astounding effects displayed in the experimental presentation at Burghausen.
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The Cologne works welcomed employees and their families, neighbors and interested members of the public to its Open House.
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To be seen at Siltronic in Freiberg: the production process from quarz to finished silicon wafer.
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Safe performance at the Open House: a complete protective equipment kit you can touch.
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Chips made of silicon wafers have a broad range of applications, such as getting robots moving.
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Interesting discussions help promote young talent at Siltronic...
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Five oranges divided up among the whole of Germany – this corresponds to the maximum permissible impurity of a silicon wafer.
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Never too soon to start practising if you want to be a firefighter – here at Siltronic in Freiberg.
Glimpse into the Cleanroom
At the Siltronic site in Freiberg a crowd had gathered in front of the entrance gates before they opened. During tours of the factory premises the 4,000 visitors had an opportunity to get a look at the wafer manufacturer’s cleanrooms, and view a processed wafer under the microscope in the canteen. “What interests me most is how the technology has developed,” said Hagen Kessler, who worked for Siltronic until retiring in 2003. “I’m glad to see how much has happened at Silitronic in the meantime.” All the guests, including the mayor of Freiberg, got the impression of a like-able and interesting high-tech employer.
In Cologne, WACKER celebrated the open house together with its site partners Vinnolit and Thyssen Krupp Xervon. Around 400 visitors – relatives, former members of staff, and neighbors – showed up at the works. They found out about our product range and the types of vocational training we offer, and also watched displays by the site fire de-partment. The VAE operations were opened to let relatives see where their partners or parents go to work every day. A tasty buffet, children’s entertainment and a raffle ensured a lighter note to the event, too.
Competition: Ice Block Defies the Summer Heat – Thanks to EIFS
Barcelona, August 12, 2011 – WACKER took part in an uncommon competition in Barcelona: a 1,000 kilo block of ice was packed inside an exterior insulation and finish system (EIFS) and left outdoors in the summer heat as part of a two-week exhibition concerning energy efficiency. Visitors could guess how much ice would still be left over at the end of the demonstration.
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Unveiling the ice block in Barcelona: thanks to the EIFS system, 800 of the original 1,000 kilos of ice withstood the heat of the Catalonian summer.
Summer temperatures can easily reach 35 degrees in Barcelona. Nevertheless, employees of WACKER’s Spanish subsidiary, Wacker Quimica Ibérica, took part in a special competition: they let a block of ice stand under hot July temperatures for two weeks and bet that almost no ice would melt. The sunny display in front of the Colegio de Arquitectos de Barcelona (CoAC), on the very centrally located Plaza Nova.
For the demonstration, the ice block was encased in a 30 cm thick insulating layer of EIFS. Joining forces with the WACKER ACADEMY, Wacker Quimica Ibérica provided the VINNAPAS® dispersible polymer powder that holds the insulating layers together.
Some 100 visitors guessed as to how much ice would still be left over at the end of the demonstration. Guesses ranged between 50 to 1,000 kilos. Thanks to the EIFS, the inside temperature of the large packing crate was maintained at a constant 5 °C throughout the entire two weeks, so that only 20% of the ice melted despite the summer temperatures. Roughly 800 kilos withstood Catalonia’s summer heat that prevailed during the two weeks of the demonstration from July 8 to July 21, 2011.
In the competition, the Institute for Energy Efficiency (TBZ), an international non-profit association that promotes and publicizes sustainable construction, showed in a simulation that three times as much ice would melt without EIFS. With these results, the Spanish WACKER team highlighted the efficiency of EIFS, which is characteristic of passive houses. They stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter without depending on heating and air-conditioning systems. This helps to save electricity, thus reducing CO2 emissions. At the demonstration in Barcelona, the WACKER ACADEMY also highlighted EIFS efficiency with numerous other exhibits.
The winner of the competition, who correctly estimated 800 kilos, received a trip to Germany. This includes a visit to a building there that has been built according to current passive house standards.
WACKER Supports College in Cleveland, Tennessee, USA
Cleveland, July 18, 2011 – WACKER will be providing Cleveland State Community College (CSCC) with $150,000 to support their Excellence in Education advancement program. The college is located the same region as WACKER’s new polysilicon site in Charleston, Tennessee.
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Dr. Ingomar Kovar (left) at the donation ceremony at Cleveland State Community College. The symbolic check is held by Coleman Foss (head of the CSCC Foundation and CEO of Skyridge Medical) and college president Dr. Carl Hite (right).
The five-year program is intended to advance the development of curricula in the natural sciences, mathematics and technical faculties. In his commencement speech to the college’s graduating class of 2011, Dr. Ingomar Kovar, president and CEO of Wacker Chemical Corporation, combined Cleveland State Community College’s slogan “Start Something Great” with WACKER’s “Creating Tomorrow’s Solutions” during the symbolic handover of the check.
The college in Cleveland is now the second to be supported by WACKER in the region where the new production site is to be built. In March of this year, WACKER entered into a partnership with Chattanooga State Community College. The Group is supporting the newly established WACKER Institute there with a donation of $3 million.
Between now and 2013, WACKER will be hiring 500 new production workers who have been specially trained as mechanics, chemical technicians, chemical laboratory technicians and electronics technicians to staff its new polysilicon plant in the USA.
Environmental Award for WACKER in USA
Calvert City, June 29, 2011 – US-based General Electric (GE) honored WACKER with its Ecomagination Leadership Award. The award was in recognition of Wacker Chemical Corporation’s (WCC) environmental-protection efforts at the Calvert City (Kentucky) site. The process improvements implemented by employees there have reduced both water consumption and landfill waste.
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Congratulations on winning the GE Ecomagination Leadership Award: (from left) Arno von der Eltz (President of WACKER POLYMERS), Jeff Fulgham (Chief Sustainability Officer at GE Power and Water), Mary Beth Hudson (Calvert City site manager), Brannon Thompson (Area Manager of GE Power and Water), John Tacca (Vice President of NAFTA WACKER POLYMERS).
Using advanced water chemical technology, the Wacker Chemical Corporation (WCC) site in Calvert City, Kentucky (USA) significantly reduced its water usage and landfill waste. At this site, WACKER POLYMERS produces VINNAPAS® dispersible polymer powders and dispersions for customers from the adhesives, coatings, construction and nonwovens industries.
Together with experts from US-based General Electric (GE), WACKER developed a solution to reduce waste and enhance wastewater treatment efficiency. This included improvements to production processes, as well as to instrumentation and wastewater-treatment equipment. As a result, some 5,000 metric tons of landfill waste were eliminated and over 64,000 cubic meters of water saved each year. It also led an annual reduction in transportation costs of more than 154,000 traveled kilometers for sludge transportation. In recognition of these environmental efforts, GE honored WCC with its Ecomagination Leadership Award.