Corporate Responsibility

We operate in a responsible manner to reduce our environmental impact and strengthen the social well-being of our collaborators while implementing programs to enhance and support the community because we are committed to doing business today with a sustainable mindset.

Ethics in AGC Pharma Chemicals Europe

At AGC Pharma Chemicals Europe, we follow a set of principles driven by our company values that help us achieve a global company vision.

 

We believe that profitable business activities go hand in hand with ethical standards.

 

We are committed to conducting business following applicable laws, rules, and regulations.

Our Code of Conduct establishes the professional standards for AGC Pharma Chemicals employees at all company levels. It defines how we do business and how we interact with one another.

Our company policies and voluntarily accepted obligations are designed to promote an organizational culture based on ethical values and fair standards.

 

Our activities are guided by our vision and our ambition to perform with integrity and accountability.

 

This means setting the right priorities and delivering on our commitments while adhering to AGC Pharma Chemical´s values and the standards set out in our Code of Conduct.

The AGC Group Code of Conduct establishes principles set out in three key pillars.

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We are fair and honest in our business

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We ensure a safe and helpful workplace

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We care for our communities

Our Code of Conduct is intended to provide guidance and help recognize and handle ethical issues and provide mechanisms to report unethical conduct.

 

We have created a Compliance Office to ensure adherence to the code and provide employees with advice on ethically challenging matters.

All employees have access to the reporting system, which consists of tools and communication channels to obtain advice and report suspected misconduct cases.

 

We expect all our employees to work by our values. We organize mandatory annual training sessions to ensure that our employees understand, adhere to and know our Code of Conduct.

Enviroment, Health and Safety (EHS) Policies and Principles

We are a proud member of the Responsible Care® Program, a voluntary global initiative of the chemical sector to continuously improve safety, health and environmental protection per sustainable development and corporate social responsibility principles.

We have implemented Management Systems for the prevention of occupational risks and major accidents and the protection of the environment in accordance with current regulations.

These systems are based on the ICH Q10, ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 standards and in our corporate vision “chemistry for a Blue planet”, which promotes continuous improvement.

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Our mission is supported by four pillars

Chemistry for a Blue Planet

Is it possible to protect the earth and pursue human progress at the same time?

We think so.

Chemistry holds the key because it plays such a big part in so many industries. With chemical technology, we hope to create a world that is safe, secure, and comfortable and environmentally friendly.

We believe that chemistry has the power to achieve all these goals without compromising the well-being of our planet.

We are working towards a future that restores the glory of our planet’s past by means of innovative chemical technology.

Our EHS Company Policy

The principal commitment of our policy is to reduce the impact of our activities and products on collaborators, the community and the environment.

EHS Management Systems

For more than 10 years, we have been certified in accordance with ISO 14001 for environmental management and with OHSAS 18001 / ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety management.

Since 2020 we have had an integrated management system that encompasses all aspects of safety, the environment, and the prevention of major accidents.

The evaluation of all our interested parties (clients, suppliers, administration, community, collaborators, etc.) and the study of the context within which we operate help us identify the areas to improve upon.

On an annual basis, we define improvement programs, including objectives that go beyond legal compliance. Additionally, we monitor our performance through our system of indicators.

Environmental Protection

We are committed to protecting the environment.

We constantly evaluate our processes, identify and reduce the environmental impacts of all our activities.

We operate wastewater and off-gas treatment facilities in full compliance with our Environmental Authorization.

We segregate more than 30 different types of waste, all managed responsibly through authorized waste management companies whilst continuously promoting reduction at the source.

We reuse and recycle whenever possible in place of other management methods which are more detrimental to the environment, such as incineration.

We maintain complete control of our environmental footprint by monitoring our performance through indicators.

Energy Consumption

For years we have exclusively consumed electricity from renewable sources.

We have implemented different projects to reduce energy consumption: replacement of fluorescent tubes with LEDs, installation of frequency inverters in pumps, as well as air conditioning equipment and air compressors with energy recovery, among others.

We use natural gas mainly for steam production and for the treatment of volatile organic compounds emissions. In recent years we have reduced natural gas consumption thanks to heat recovery in off-gas treatment unit.

Electricity Consumption (kWh) & Gas Consumption (kWh)
  • Electicity Consumption
  • Gas Consumption (kWh)
 CO2 Equivalent (MT)

Emissions of greenhouse gases

We calculate the carbon footprint (scope 1 and 2).

In recent years we have reduced emissions, contributing to the achievement of the corporate objective of reducing them by 30% in 2030 (referenced to 2019).

We are committed to the global reduction of emissions and we are going to improve the calculation of the carbon footprint, including scope 3.

Paper Consumption

We have reduced the number of prints in some of our processes thanks to digitization projects in waste management and work orders in maintenance and implementation of Electronic Batch Record in production; however, paper consumption has increased due to the capacity expansion and investments in R&D.

We continue to invest in the awareness of collaborators as well as in digitization to reduce paper consumption.

Paper Consumption (kg)
kg Waste / kg Product A

Waste Generation

We work to reduce the waste generated in our operations by applying reduction techniques at the source. We prioritize the recovery of waste as well as the internal reuse of solvents whenever possible.

Furthermore, we are evaluating the possibility to pretreat different waste streams to process them internally in our wastewater facilities. We are also going to install a screw filter to reduce the amount of sludge generated.

We continuously monitor the waste generated in the manufacture of our products to look improvement opportunities for. In this way, we identify misfunctioning areas or poor performance we need to correct.

Wastewater Treatment

We operate wastewater facilities where aqueous streams are treated before being discharged into the environment. To ensure compliance with discharge limits, we monitor nitrogen removal and chemical oxygen demand (COD) rates. At the same time, we also control the inlet to the treatment plant.

We have started a project to adapt and expand the wastewater treatment plant to increase treatment capacity and reduce outlet concentrations to anticipate possible new requirements and needs.

COD Removal Rate (%) & Ammonia Removal Rate (%)
  • COD Removal Rate
  • Ammonia Removal Rate

Health and Safety

Workplace Safety

People are our greatest asset, and that is why we work to make the workplace as safe as possible. We thoroughly evaluate any occupational risks derived from our activities and establish preventive measures to eliminate or reduce them to a minimum.

We inform all our stakeholders about the risks, establish preventive measures, and train them to carry out their work safely.

We investigate accidents and incidents to determine their root cause and establish corrective and preventive measures to avoid repetition.

Major Accident Prevention

We have established high-priority objectives around ensuring that our production processes, equipment, and facilities offer the highest level of protection to avoid situations that affect the physical integrity of our collaborators and the local vicinity.

For this, we have a compliance-based management system, integrated accident prevention policies, and the conviction that all risks must be controlled and all accidents avoided. Training, communication, and continuous improvement are fundamental to achieve these objectives.

Product stewardship

We handle chemical substances with different properties. We always define the best and safest ways to handle them, both inside and outside our facilities.

We have Safety Data Sheets for all the substances that we manufacture and comply with our registration obligations with ECHA.

Social responsibility

Our products are designed to positively impact people’s health, but our goal is to take this further.

Our social responsibility policy establishes four priority lines of action:

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Close community

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Health

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Next generation

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Natural environment

Through our social responsibility activities, we contribute to improving people’s lives and the environment.

We assign an annual budget for the activities we develop with different entities. We are also open to new initiatives proposed by the people who work with us.

Certifications