LANXESS steps up its commitment towards Health, Safety and Environment again

LANXESS, the global specialty chemicals company is making an additional commitment towards HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) by undertaking the Responsible Care® commitment for its manufacturing sites in India. While the company had already signed a charter at the global level, this commitment comes from its specific initiatives in India. Indian Chemical Council (ICC), which co-ordinates and audits companies to facilitate implementation of Responsible Care® in India, audited LANXESS sustainability projects and initiatives at its sites as well as in its corporate office and found it well-positioned to take up this commitment. Some of LANXESS’ initiatives that are worthwhile in this regard are – implementation of Zero Liquid Discharge at its manufacturing facility in Nagda leading to reduction of water footprint drastically, cogeneration plant at Nagdafuelled by carbon neutral biomass, migration from roadways to railways for transportation of goods thereby leading to reduction of carbon emission, off-gas incinerator at Jhagadia site to eliminate emission of VOC (volatile organic compounds) into the atmosphere and roll-out of a top-down internal global safety program that emphasizes on improving behavioral safety at LANXESS sites, among several others. LANXESS is also a pioneer founder member in the ICC Nicer Globe initiative for enhancing road safety for transportation of hazardous goods.

Responsible Care is the global chemical industry’s unifying commitment to the safe management of chemicals throughout their life cycle, while promoting their role in improving quality of life and contributing to sustainable development. Thus it is a voluntary initiative to continuously improve the company’s performance standards in the areas of health, safety and environment. It defines standards for each area of manufacturing operations that the company must aim to follow, such as process safety, employee safety and health, pollution prevention, emergency response, distribution and product stewardship. Improvementsin each of these areas have to be identified periodically through audits and necessary actionshave to be taken to bridge any identified gap.

On signing on to the Responsible Care® charter in India, Jacques Perez, Managing Director and Country Representative, LANXESS India said, “LANXESS has undertaken this approach globally and has now calibrated its already high HSE standards at its sites in India as per the principles of Responsible Care® approach. We have ensured at every step of our development in India that we are at par with the highest global standards in terms of safety and sustainability. Subscribing to the Responsible Care® initiative now is only reinforcing this belief and commitment.”

Mr. H S Karangale, Director General, Indian Chemical Council (ICC) said on the occasion, “The ultimate vision of Responsible Care® initiative is ‘ZERO incident or, injuries’ and ‘NO harm to the environment’.  By encouraging companies to adopt principles of Responsible Care®, ICC aims to elevate the HSE standards of the Indian chemical industry and enhance the trust and confidence among all stakeholders. It is our pleasure that LANXESS India Pvt. Ltd. has made it to Responsible Care® league as this further bolsters the spirit of the Indian chemical industry.”