Sustainability Along the Supply Chain

With production sites in Europe, the Americas and Asia, WACKER procures goods and services from numerous countries. As a member of both the United Nations Global Compact and the chemical industry’s Responsible Care^® initiative, we have long considered it vital that our suppliers fulfill generally accepted sustainability principles. Important aspects include social and ethical standards (especially human rights, working conditions, health and safety standards, responsible management of local resources such as water and energy, and environmental protection). We also expect our suppliers to use a management system that meets the requirements of ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environmental protection) or those of certifications that exceed these standards, such as GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice). These principles are anchored both in our terms and conditions and our Supplier Code of Conduct and, as of the reporting year, must be adhered to along the entire supply chain.

WACKER has been a member of the Together for Sustainability (TfS) initiative since 2015. Launched by the chemical industry, this procurement initiative has developed a framework that allows member companies to audit and assess a supplier’s sustainability performance. Its uniform standards and processes ensure that results of supplier assessments and audits are credible and transparent to all TfS members; audit reports are shared within the TfS initiative. The TfS Academy offers training courses on relevant sustainability topics for all TfS members’ suppliers and purchasers. The head of our Corporate Procurement & Logistics department is a member of the TfS Steering Committee. In addition, we were actively involved, during the reporting year, in developing a common standard for calculating product carbon footprints.