Environmental, Responsible Care Awards. (13 December, 1996)

Environmental mission statements tend to become pictures on the wall unless people are constatnly prompted to live them out. At least that is the view of leading chemical concern, NCP, believed to be the first SA company to launch a responsible care award in conjunction with an environmental award.

The awards were announced at NCP's first enviornmental conference held in Johannesburg in November and attended by leading executives from both NCP and holding company, Sentrachem. 'The awards are open to all business units in the company and are designed to keep everyone's attention focused on environmental, health and safety issues in line with the company's overall environmental strategic plan,' says Chris van Niekerk, MD of NCP.

The environment award is made for aspects such as reductions in waste, effluent and emissions per ton of product as well as for improved water use per ton of product. The responsible care award is made for the effectiveness of community awareness and emergency response committees and the general level of communication and involvement of business units with their surrounding communities. Other factors are: demonstrable improvements in health, safety and environmental performance, improvements in energy, low complaints levels, support for customers in the health, safety and environmental fields and the most significant responsible care project. Courtesy of The Star.