Holcim launches sustainable development report

Holcim Philippines, Inc. released its first-ever Sustainable Development Report last Aug. 19. The publication provides information on the company’s ongoing initiatives to reduce its ecological footprint as it participates in the country’s growth and helps in the development of the communities where it operates.

Roland van Wijnen, chief operating officer of Holcim Philippines, said the report allows the company to identify areas of its business where it can still improve, and gives stakeholders a better view about the company’s efforts to manage the impact of its operations.

“It has often been said that ‘if you are able to measure it, you can manage it more effectively.’ We look at this SD Report as a concrete step towards measuring the impact of our economic, social and environmental footprints, this time using as standard an internationally accepted system contained in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). By doing so, we hope to do even better in relentlessly pursuing programs that benefit our stakeholders.”

The GRI is an organization that has produced a framework on sustainability reporting which seeks to standardize the disclosure of environmental, social and governance performance.

For his part, Andre Caluori, Holcim Philippines vice president for manufacturing, said: “This year, Holcim Philippines has decided to consolidate all these data in the first-ever, Sustainable Development Report. This document sums up who we are, what we do and how we are committed to improve our work. We understand the need to express our sustainable development principles clearly through a report where we set out what we aspire to achieve and deliver on the economic, environmental and social issues that concern our stakeholders.”

Holcim Philippines’s sustainability report is the first of its kind among cement companies operating locally. It will be published every two years. Aside from data on its economic performance, the Sustainable Development report contains information on the company’s environmental footprint with figures on its emissions, raw material usage, energy consumption, reforestation and quarry rehabilitation initiatives. The publication also discusses Holcim Philippines’s social development and management programs for its communities and its safety initiatives and relevant social data on its employees among others.