Corporate Responsibility
Cumerio is dedicated to achieving excellence in terms of the environment, health, safety and wellbeing for its stakeholders, and is committed to the principles of sustainable development.
Cumerio strives to minimise its environmental impact and its use of natural resources, such as water and energy. Continuous efforts are made towards reducing the impact of its industrial processes, products and services.
Cumerio actively participates in the identification and management of risks that are the result of its operations. It facilitates and encourages responsible design, use, re-use, recycling and disposal of its products as well of the wastes generated by its production processes and it engages with its stakeholders to ensure an effective and transparent communication.
Together with the annual report on the 2006 results, Cumerio dedicated an extensive chapter on Environment, Human Resources, Innovation, grouped under Sustainability and Corporate Governance.
Environment
Cumerio is organised with an environmental management system according to the ISO 14001 principles, which is updated through a periodical evaluation of the Environmental Performance Indicators. Each site is accountable for its environmental performance and since 2006, all plants are ISO 14001 certified.
In Bulgaria, Cumerio Med was among the first industrial companies to request and obtain in June 2005 an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Permit.
The Permit takes into account the very strict environmental norms adopted by the Bulgarian authorities in anticipation of Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union in October 2007. It aims at realizing a system for more efficient control and prevention of any kind of emissions into the air, water and soil. As part of the new IPPC-permit, Cumerio is committed to a significant investment program of approximately €30 million, mainly focused on further reducing the emission levels, to be expensed mainly over the period 2005-2007.
In Belgium, all installations are operating in compliance with the current environmental legislation. All new dioxin abatement systems are in place and emissions are in full compliance with the limits set forward in the new operating permit. This enabled Cumerio to increase substantially the intake of copper scraps in Olen. Addressing the recycling of copper further underlines Cumerio’s commitment to sustainable development. The historic soil and groundwater pollution issues are quite limited. Following last years’ agreement between Umicore and the Flemish Authorities (OVAM), all potential liabilities related to the historical soil and groundwater pollution of the site in Olen remained with Umicore.
In Italy, Cumerio’s operations are compliant with the current environmental legislation and the Avellino plant is ISO 14001 certified since end 2005.
Health and Safety
Cumerio sets general Health and Safety policies at Group level, but final accountability resides with the site management. The high standards for Health and Safety are applied for both own people as for contractors’ employees. In the plants increased risk zones, health condition are monitored periodically through e.g. blood tests.
Cumerio reports on a regular base on its health and safety performance on all sites. Hereafter a few data. You will find a detailed table in the 2006 annual report.
| Olen | Pirdop | Avellino | ||
| Frequency Rate | # accidents/million working hours |
14 |
5.06 |
18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Severity Rate | lost days/1000 working hours |
0.43 |
0.25 |
0.56 |
On 28 April Cumerio Med received the 2007 award for best employer with distinct and outstanding achievements in Bulgaria in the field of safety and health at work. The nominations were selected by the labour unions, the ministry of labour and social affairs, the General Labour Inspectorate and National Social Security Institute. This award is another illustration of Cumerio's care for safety and healthcare.
