Objective 1 - Accountability
| All industrial sites must develop and implement a local plan to address accountability to the local community. This plan must identify relevant stakeholders and determine the process through which to address stakeholder concerns, as well as set out the voluntary initiatives towards the local community in which the site wishes to engage. |
Almost 60% of the sites have deployed a plan to address accountability to the local community, while 30% are in the process of developing such a plan, marking a strong increase compared to last year (figure 1).
It is expected that these efforts will continue to grow in the next two years, underpinned by a new group policy on donations and charitable contributions. Umicore has committed itself, as from 2008, to allocate each year about 0.5% of its consolidated EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) to donations and charitable contributions. About two thirds of this amount will be spent by the site management on local initiatives in the communities surrounding Umicore’s operations. The remaining third will be used at corporate level to be spent mainly on projects and initiatives to promote sustainable development topics. In 2007 Umicore supported the Umicore Solar Team which took part in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge and the Antarctic zeroemission polar station.
Many sites are engaged in a dialogue with their local stakeholders. Some sites have a long standing tradition in this respect: they distribute local magazines and brochures to the surrounding community, mainly focusing on environmental performance. For other sites - often small or medium sized operations or offices - this approach is new and started with screening all potential relevant stakeholders. Some of them organise their stakeholder dialogue via industry associations grouping different companies operating in the same area.
Many sites have regular contacts with local authorities and public services such as the fire brigade or the police. Some of these contacts were set up at Umicore’s own initiative, while others are part of a formal local consultation process. In Subic, Philippines, for example a meeting is held every quarter to monitor the impact of the company’s operations on the environment.
On 3 May 2007 a Flemish regional stakeholder dialogue was organised at Umicore’s Olen site to which stakeholders and local government officials from all Flemish sites were invited. Umicore senior management gave an overview of the company’s 2006 economic, environmental and social performance, followed by discussion with the audience.
Several sites invited neighbours to visit their operations. In 2007, this was the case at the site in Hoboken (Belgium) and Angleur (Belgium) and at corporate headquarters in Brussels (Belgium). Umicore’s main office in Brussels has been completely renovated, taking into account some of the neighbours’ expectations and making the building much more energy-efficient.
Many sites provide support to the local community. Examples include renovating a local town hall (Hoboken, Belgium), donations to temples (Bangkok, Thailand), sponsoring a soccer tournament (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and constructing an irrigation system for local farmers (Changsha, China). In Brazil, schools in the vicinity of the three Umicore sites were involved in a project to collect old batteries and handsets to help foster a culture of recycling.
Umicore on the way to sustainability