The ZACHEM S.A. Chemical Plant declares its voluntary enrollment on the Responsible Care Program. According to the principles of this Program we will continually strive to enhance the safety of the people and the state of the natural environment.

In our everyday work we oblige ourselves:

• to foster the attitude of conscious responsibility for the safety and condition of the natural environment,
• to motivate all our employees to undertake concrete activities aimed at improving the safety of people and protection of the natural environment,
• to extend our knowledge by conducting and supporting research on the health, safety, and environmental effects of our products, processes and waste materials.
• to use installations and facilities in a manner that ensures safety of people and the natural environment,
• to look for financial possibilities of modernizing our company, thus minimizing waste production at the source,
• to cooperate with the local community on improving of the natural environment,
• to present ideas and achievements resulting form realization of Responsible Care in the media, at conferences and exhibitions.

In the chemical industry, the ZACHEM S.A. Chemical Plant is the first signatory of the International Program Responsible Care, imposing on the producer responsibility for a product throughout the entire cycle of its existence.
 
One of the most important achievements of ZACHEM S.A. in the field of ecology in the last decade was submission of an installation for thermal utilisation of waste materials and a mechanical-chemical liquid waste treatment plant, where waste from our plant is prepared for biological treatment. In order to build a biological treatment plant, Kapuściska Water Company has been set up, the shareholders of which are: the authorities of Bydgoszcz and Solec Kujawski, ZACHEM S.A., Nitro-Chem and Stomil. The costs of the investment amounted to more than 160 million zlotys. The plant has been receiving wastewater from ZACHEM S.A.since March 2001. 
 
ZACHEM S.A. also participates in the program of minimizing waste at its source and clean technology. It publishes an annual Ecological Report and an ecological quarterly ZEF addressed to the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz. It implements environmental management system according to the ISO 14001 standard and the health and safety management system according to the PN-N-18001 standard. 

Responsible Care in ZACHEM S.A.

In May 1994, ZACHEM S.A. joined the International Program Responsible Care. We were the first chemical firm in Poland that decided to take this step, believing that it would help us solve our problems concerning ecology and production safety.

Our presence on the list of the 80 main polluters in Poland proved that there were serious problems. What is more, in view of the former publicity policy and unfavorable public opinion, often undeserved, an important thing was to improve communication with the local inhabitants. At that time we already fully realized that we had other important goals, besides production. We had to take care of our neighbors form the big housing districts so as to reduce the influence of ZACHEM S.A. on its closest surroundings and provide information about what is happening at our company.

We are aware that because of producing and processing such toxic substances as chlorine, phosgene and propylene, we must take into account the possibility of extreme threats to the environment. Ultimately, we constantly strive to reduce the exposure of our employees to harmful and dangerous working conditions connected with the varying modernity of the installations. All these needs lay at the roots of our decision to join the Responsible Care Program.

In the course of all these years between the signing of the declaration and the systematic reduction of the burden on the environment, we completed numerous pro-ecological projects. They significantly reduced the emission of hazardous chemicals to the atmosphere, the amount of water used in our plant, the amount liquid waste materials, and the level of their contamination. Waste disposal was regulated and set in order and certain dangerous waste materials were utilized.

Among the numerous pro-ecological projects the following deserve special attention:

• Installation for deep distillation of tars (List evaporator) enabling utilization of the so-called fly-ash to produce thermal energy.
   
• Systematic closing of water cycles, especially closing the cooling water cycle in the installation producing carbon monoxide and in the evaporator, which reduced water consumption by about 4,5 million m3 per year. 
   
• Modernization and development of the toluenediisocyanate (TDI) installation. As a result, we reduced the amount of solid and liquid waste materials.
   
• Construction of a chemical-mechanical sewage treatment plant – the so-called Central Neutralization Station, which prepares wastewater for further biological treatment.
   
• Setting up a protection zone for the water abstraction point. 
   
• Optimization of technological processes in the Epichlorhydrin Plant - reduction of lime grit production, reduction of chemical substance levels in liquid waste materials (expressed by ChZT the coefficient) by 234Mg per year
   
• Installation of a heating system utilizing the waste heat from selected technological nodes. It provides heating to various departments in our plant, which reduces consumption of steam from the EC by approximately 60 thousand Mg per year. This allows lowering coal consumption (by 7000 Mg) in the power plant and reduces the amount of harmful substances emitted to the atmosphere.
   
• Elimination of Freon R-11 in the production of polyurethane foam.

In the field of communication and cooperation with the local community, our most notable achievements are:

• Publication of an ecological quarterly ZEF, which is distributed free of charge among the inhabitants of the neighboring housing districts and youth. 
   
• Publication of an annual Ecological Report of ZACHEM S.A. . 
   
• Reception of excursions from primary and secondary schools and colleges (nearly 70).
   
• Offering advice and data for diploma projects written by students of secondary schools and colleges.
   
• Organization of three open meetings with the local community and presentation of our plant.
   
• Regular contacts with students from the nearby Chemical Secondary School – offering help in preparing materials for the international competition organized under the auspices of CEFIC, Polish Chamber of The Chemical Industry and EUROCHLOR.
   
• Participation in seminars, conferences, thematic symposiums and meetings organized by the Council of Housing Estate.
   
• Publications concerning environmental protection and ZACHEM S.A.’s influence on the environment in the national and regional media.

Implementation of the Environmental Management System according to the ISO 14001 standard and the System of Health and Safety Management according to PN-N-18001 serves the purpose of improving work safety and minimizing threats.

We introduced an amended method of controlling and assessing work safety and hygiene.

We joined an international association EUROCHLOR from which we receive current data concerning threats in chlorine installations in the world.
We participated in the EVISA project, which propagates new methods of work safety management. 
We participated in the development of educational system TEMPUS, relating to the safety of and the impact on the natural environment (in cooperation with the Łódź Institute of Technology).
An important element in the activity of ZACHEM S.A. was including our firm in the Adjustment Program formulated by State Inspection for Environmental Protection It granted us conditional exclusion from the list of the main polluters of the environment. 

We prepared a report documenting the ecological problems of our plant and pointing out their solutions and the timeframe for their implementation. Based on this, the General Inspector of Environmental Protection made the decision to conditionally remove ZACHEM S.A. from that list. 

Without a doubt, one of the most important ecological tasks in which ZACHEM S.A. recently participated was the construction of the sewage treatment plant for Bydgoszcz and its neighboring area including our company. The National Fund for Environmental Protection and the Eco-fund have also made their financial contributions to this investment. 

In 2001 we started an automatic air monitoring station.
ZACHEM S.A.'s efforts in environmental protection were noticed and appreciated.
We have been awarded numerous prizes from Chief Technical Organization for solutions improving our technological processes and waste disposal procedures. In 1996 we were awarded the Certificate for Cleaner Production.
Our voluntary introduction of Responsible Care program brought about concrete results. Nonetheless, it is difficult even to estimate the changes in our employees’ way of thinking. This is the effect of voluntary acceptance of these well-defined obligations.
This means that our company is "transparent" as far as production and environmental protection is concerned. 
ZACHEM S.A. has not been sweeping its ecological problems under the carpet for many years now. Quite on the contrary, we openly admit that such problems exist and we show all our efforts to solve them and make our technologies as environmentally friendly as possible. 
Many costly errors of negligence resulted form lack of respect and responsibility for our natural environment on the part of our employees. Anxious about their health and safety, local inhabitants were also critical of our company.
Thin lack of information flow and dialogue perpetuated stereotypes.
Even the best program is not enough when one wants to change all this. What is necessary is bilateral good will and years of work. Only authentic responsibility and care can yield trust and understanding. On the one hand, there are ZACHEM S.A.’s employees, who need to be deeply convinced that one must not destroy something in order to create something else. On the other hand, there are the inhabitants of Bydgoszcz, who look at our firm with suspicion and distrust. In their minds they are certain that our plant, being part of the great chemical industry, must poison our environment!
Have we already managed to change our image and ourselves? After all, we have done so much to achieve clean and safe production! I am well aware that many have already started to value ZACHEM S.A.. We need to convince the majority that the people behind the gates of our company do not thoughtlessly destroy our environment. On the contrary, our employees also want to live in a safe, healthy world. Therefore, for so many years we have been full of responsible care and we will maintain this course in our future development.
You can see it in our official annual ecological reports, in the ZEF quarterly, on the Internet, and most of all in our investments. You are also more than welcome to visit our company and question us directly if you have any doubts.