Environment
Viohalco companies are committed to an environmentally responsible operation and product development, through ongoing investments in advanced technological solutions and continuous employee training. They apply the Best Available Techniques (BAT) to reduce their environmental footprint and promote the sustainable use of natural resources across their manufacturing operations.
Viohalco companies are dedicated to reducing their environmental footprint and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources by recycling materials across their manufacturing operations. They also strive to play a significant role in society, particularly in education, regarding the responsible use and recycling of materials in everyday life.
Water and wastewater management
Water is an essential element of Viohalco companies’ production process and therefore its responsible use is critical for the companies’ business continuity. Responsible use of water includes:
• the reduction of water intensity utilizing water conservation technologies where possible, the continuous monitoring of consumption so leaks can be detected on time and the preventive maintenance of water networks to avoid water losses
• carefully assessing water availability and the adoption of measures, when needed, for adequate alternatives of supply in times of water shortage;
• proper maintenance and operation of wastewater treatment plants to have full compliance with water discharge limits.
Energy consumption
Most of Viohalco companies are electricity intensive because of the nature of metal processing, both in metallurgy as well as downstream processing. Energy efficiency of industrial operation is an extremely important matter that besides its obvious economic implications, has also a direct effect to the indirect carbon footprint (Scope 2 emissions).
Besides energy consumption, it is of strategic importance for Viohalco subsidiaries to have access to low carbon electricity to minimize their carbon footprint as well as to decrease their exposure to carbon pricing through indirect emissions.
Climate Change Impact
Viohalco companies support EU’s “Roadmap to 2050” and have committed to contribute actively and decisively by reducing carbon emissions in their operations as well as through low carbon enabling products that are vital in the energy transition and for the customers to meet their own sustainability goals.
Environmental protection and responsible production
Viohalco companies make continuous efforts to minimize the environmental impact of their operations. Vital to this effort is the implementation of prevention measures in chemicals storage and use as well as continuous monitoring for the case of accidental incidents (spills or leaks) to the environment. All environmental incidents that have the potential to impact the environment directly or indirectly are closely monitored and procedures have been developed for their immediate detection, investigation, and immediate remediation if they do occur.
EU Taxonomy
The EU Taxonomy is a classification system that establishes a list of economic activities considered environmentally sustainable and serves as a foundation for the Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth, which supports the European Green Deal. By creating a common language for sustainable activities, the EU Taxonomy establishes the first uniform and credible standard that allows economic actors to align with the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and sustainable future.
The EU Taxonomy Regulation requests that companies subject to an obligation to publish non-financial
information shall disclose in their NFD the proportion of their turnover, capital expenditure and operating
expenditure related to “Taxonomy-eligible and Taxonomy aligned activities. The assessment methodology followed by Viohalco this year has been refined, considering the updated legislation and interpretation issued by the Taxonomy Platform within 2022.
Viohalco has evaluated the business activities against the EU Taxonomy eligibility criteria for climate mitigation and has identified eligible activities as shown below (cf. Disclosures Delegated Act EU 2021/2178):
