Sustainability

The relationship between industry and environment has changed significantly, and especially over the last years this trend has been increasingly fast and has had a wider scope.

In the past companies focused on providing the market with the products requested, with a merely economic profitability approach.
 
Only some decades ago, with the rising awareness of the public opinion and institutions at international level, the attention to the need to protect the environment, safety and health started to increase. In order to achieve this result, companies from every sector have started to take actions to continuously improve their production processes.

In the chemical and petrochemical sector this attention was even stronger because of the peculiarities of some technologies and productions, which require a sophisticated monitoring system. Today these innovations are part of every Company's assets.

Polimeri Europa made efforts to maximize its performance (in terms of lower consumption of raw materials, such as water and energy, which are valuable resources for everyone) and the production process safety, minimize emissions and protect the human resources working for the company, but also the surrounding community and territory.
In addition, the initiative also covers the areas upstream and downstream the production in the strict meaning of the term, implementing research which aims at optimizing the product life cycle as a whole, qualifying the suppliers, rationalizing transport and distribution (aiming at the combined cycle, for example), training the customers on the appropriate handling, use and disposal of the various products, really implementing a stewardship policy.

Complying with the leading principles of Responsible Care, Polimeri Europa wishes to continue with the environmentally friendly approach it has always adopted in all its business areas and go even further, directed to sustainable development, implementing strict monitoring procedures and systems. This means to combine economic, ecological and social needs to lead to a harmonic balance, without which no company can reach excellence and competitiveness in the long term.

The guarantee of an increasingly higher level in the preservation and protection of its employees' health is not only a requirement prescribed by the law, but it is also a corporate approach always promoted by Polimeri Europa and based on the culture change, involving the top management as well as all employees. The main objective, i.e. the protection of the employees' safety and health at work, considers "risk prevention and management" as a priority and key issue in the definition of choices.

Every activity within the company is subject to risk assessment, the essential process on which the Safety and Health Management System is based, and it is aimed at preventing accidents and occupational diseases identifying related hazards and risks and adopting appropriate prevention and protection measures, at ensuring the compliance with the related applicable legislation on occupational health and safety and at continuous improvement, involving the entire corporate structure.

Polimeri Europa monitors the work environments and assesses the workers' exposures to risk factors combining the monitoring of biological indicators with health surveillance, environmental and/or dosimetric measures, as well as the compliance with appropriate standards (technical standards, laws, sector best practices, etc.).

In order to optimize the activities and allow to properly manage the data on the employees' health, an HSE Information System has been implemented, enabling to manage all the exposure data and automatically acquire the results of the chemical-clinical analyses with reporting systems which make it possible to process statistics, progress trends and historical records which can be useful for the operational check and to propose preventive actions to reduce risks, if required.

An information system called "Accident/Injury Database" has been implemented, enabling to automatically acquire all accidents, injuries, injuries-medications, Near Misses and Unsafe Conditions with reporting systems which make it possible to process statistics, progress trends and historical records which can be useful for the operational check and to propose preventive actions to reduce risks, if required.

The protection of the workers' Safety and Health within Polimeri Europa is guaranteed by a certified management system, in accordance with the international standard OHSAS 18001 and in line with the environmental management system in compliance with IS0 14001 standard.

As for Product Safety, the aim is to draw more attention to HSE issues during the entire product life cycle, defining the technical and organizational solutions which could effectively monitor criticalities and mitigate them.

Within "Responsible Care" international programme, Polimeri Europa is involved in the "safe" management of chemical products during their entire life cycle (see REACH Section).

Polimeri Europa has adopted a Quality Management System as its own way of being and operating and as strategic tool in the global corporate management.
The Quality Management System, realized in accordance with EN ISO 9001:2008 Standard, gives evidence of the search for continuous improvement of the services provided, of the integration and efficiency of the organizational processes and of cost reduction.
To Polimeri Europa Quality means first of all transparency in rules, operational practices, checks and in the relationships with Customers and Suppliers.
All the company's activities are certified in accordance with EN ISO 9001:2008 Standard by third entities recognized at international level.
Certiquality (Italy, France and Hungary), MSZT (Hungary), DQS (Germany), BSI (UK Grangemouth and Hythe) and AIB-Vinçotte  (Belgium) are the entities which certify the Quality Management System in the countries where Polimeri Europa operates.
 

Polimeri Europa applies to its products the principles of ethic and responsible management of safety, health and environmental protection issues during their entire life cycle; these principles are the core of  Product Stewardship, a concept closely related to Responsible Care.

Polimeri Europa is constantly committed to the safety of its products, which first of all must comply with the safety standards applicable to chemicals, plastic materials and elastomers to meet the requirements regulating their final applications. The scientific knowledge and the legislation governing these areas are updated on a continuous basis. That is why our production processes and the product formulations are often reviewed aiming at increasing safety. Moreover, this activity perfectly matches with the principle of continuous improving the quality management systems.

We also listen to our customers' voice and the end users' needs carefully to improve our products and have them satisfy the expectations. Polimeri Europa provides all the information on the materials conformity with the specific product standards and their final applications. Each of Polimeri Europa products is provided with a safety data sheet in accordance with the European standard established by the REACH regulation. Polimeri Europa always discusses these subjects with its customers and provides the information required to properly use the products during all the phases of their life cycle.

Information on the product stewardship, on the safety data sheets and on the declarations of standard conformity is available at our Sales Units.

1st June 2007 is the date when REACH, the new Regulation for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, has come into force. The new Regulation has replaced a number of European directives and regulations and had placed responsibility on the chemical industry to demonstrate the safety of its products.
The acronym stands for: Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals.

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Contact
e-mail: product.stewardship.PE@polimerieuropa.com
fax: +39 02 520 42945

 
Safety, health and environmental protection belong to the key behavioural and governance principles that polimeri europa holds as relevant for business development.
To this end, polimeri europa has outlined and developed suitable Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental Management Systems.
Based on domestic and international standards, these systems guarantee reliability of operational and managerial processes. Each and every every effort is directed to maintain and improve safety standards of manufacturing activities.
The development of Management Systems implies the commitment of all polimeri europa employees to contribute to continuous improvement.

Management Systems are formalized and certified according to standards such as:

• EN ISO 9001
• OHSAS 18001
• EN ISO 14001
• EMAS ( Eco- Management ans Audit Scheme )

The “Certificate of Excellence“ rewards and promotes exchanges of experiences among companies which, after having obtained and effectively integrated their own Management Systems, pursue continuous improvement of their processes.

Pursuing excellence by governing all Quality, Health, Safety and Environmental issues and the realization of an Integrated Management System, that will enable a continuous control and monitoring of managerial capabilities, is today a key factor for business competitiveness.

An Integrated Management System summarizes polimeri europa’s commitment on:

• Accident prevention, preservation and protection of employees and contractors’ health and safety, assets integrity, responsible and sustainable development;
• People centrality, sharing of knowledge and experiences, promotion to commitment and to expertise enhancement.