PRESS RELEASE
January 30, 2008 at 12.00
This year has been named within Outokumpu "Corporate responsibility theme year". Concrete targets have been set in the field of environmental and social responsibility. The aim is that everyone at Outokumpu participates, as responsibility concerns everyone. It's time to move from words into actions.
The corporate responsibility theme year is a natural continuation to the implementation of Outokumpu's ethical principles and corporate responsibility policy started in 2006. "Our management wants to stress with the theme year the importance of responsibility, especially environmental and social responsibility in our Group" says Outokumpu's CEO Juha Rantanen, and continues "Within social responsibility we had a safety theme year in 2005. Then the theme year with its targets mainly focused on production plants. Now we want to involve all Outokumpu employees in concrete deeds - both at plants and in offices".
Corporate responsibility is everyday deeds as well as an essential part of business. Outokumpu has always paid special attention to these issues, and achieved good results as well as international recognition. Outokumpu is a member of, among other things, the Pan-European Dow Jones STOXX Index 2007/2008 and gained for the first time membership also in the Dow Jones World Index. The Sustainable Asset Management Company SAM, which carried out the analysis for Dow Jones Indexes, gave Outokumpu a SAM Sector Mover title in its Sustainability Year Book 2008 for its outstanding achievements and greatest relative improvement in the area of sustainability. There is, however, place for further improvements.
Outokumpu has set concrete measurable targets for the theme year.
Targets for environmental responsibility
- To reduce landfill waste from plant operations by 10 percent per ton processed, and non-classified (e.g. plastic cups and other non-recyclable material) waste from offices by 5 percent
- To reduce energy consumption at plants by 2 percent per ton processed, and in offices by 5 percent (e.g. using energy saving lamps, turning off lights and computers when not in use, not leaving in stand-by position)
- To contribute to reducing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
o New company cars to be low emission cars (below 200g CO2/km)
o Outokumpu promotes tele/videoconferences vs. flying
o Outokumpu invests 5 million euros in an environmental target to be identified through a group wide competition
Targets for social responsibility
- To decrease number of accidents by one third
- To improve well-being at work through concrete actions (e.g. to combat workload, uncertainty related stress, unclear responsibilities, discrimination)
Corporate responsibility and concrete work to improve further our responsible performance continues even after the theme year as Outokumpu wants to be the undisputed number one not only in stainless steel but also in corporate responsibility.
For further information please contact: Liisa Jalanko, VP - Corporate responsibility, tel. +358 9 421 3265,
mobile: +358 400 446663
