Environmental compliance

Grupa Kęty is well aware of its responsibility with regard to environment and climate protection. In order to eliminate the potential non-compliance, environment management systems were implemented at the companies, certified for compliance with the ISO 14001 standard. Every year, within the system effectiveness review, the highest management staff assess compliance with the then binding legal requirements. The companies of the Capital Group of Grupa Kęty S.A. comply with all applicable laws and regulations. The results of audits performed in 2021 by the Environmental Protection Inspectorate and by independent auditors from accredited units dealing with the supervision of the ISO 14001 system confirmed the compliance. The environment quality measurements and analyses carried out by the companies are an additional confirmation of compliance with the standards. On account of pollutants emission, the plants pay regularly and timely any charges required by law and file reports to the respective authorities. In 2021, none of the Capital Group companies paid any fines for excessive use of the environment.

Lack of the companies’ negative impact on the environment has been confirmed by the authorities competent with regard to environmental protection control.

Following the ‘polluter-pays’ principle, the companies of the Capital Group of Grupa Kęty S.A. pay fees on the use of the environment, which is an equivalent for pollutants emission. Below presented are the values of fees for emissions to air, water withdrawal, and wastewater discharge. The aim of the companies is to limit their impact on the environment and, thus, reduce the value of fees paid on that account.

Within the ISO 14001 system, the companies of the Kęty Capital Group keep records of environmental protection costs. ‘Green accounting’ is a model of allocating environmental costs within corporate accounting, which enables the assessment of the costs structure and changes over time. The sources of data for the financial evaluation of environmental activities are as follows: expenditure on eco-investment projects, costs of the maintenance and operation of protection devices, costs of waste disposal and emission purification, legally required environmental charges. The accounting is a tool facilitating the decision-making process in the area of environmental activities, investment projects and organisational measures. The investment priority is to regularly upgrade the machinery and improve the environmental management system, which goes beyond the legal requirements.

In 2021, the environmental costs increased significantly compared to the preceding year – by 20% y/y for domestic companies, including by 23.5% for Grupa Kęty S.A. This resulted from higher expenditures on water and wastewater management, as well as significant increase in the costs of waste management, including very high increase in prices for waste recovery or disposal.

 In 2021, none of the Capital Group companies received any complaints in relation to the use of the environment.

A similar situation had been observed in 2020.

The open information policy, including the publication of annual environmental reports, helped to increase the awareness of the type and extent of the companies’ impact on the environment. The Capital Group of Grupa Kęty S.A., as a signatory of the Global Compact and a member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), has been actively promoting the principles of sustainable development and environmental responsibility.

In the reporting period, Grupa Kęty implemented measures aimed at reducing the environmental risk and limiting the carbon footprint within the supply chain. The Code of Conduct for the Suppliers was developed and implemented, committing our business partners to abide by the specific requirements related to sustainable development. Since 2021, the Code of Conduct for the Suppliers has been gradually sent out to all our suppliers and discussed in meetings. In order to limit a negative impact on the environment within the whole supply chain, we have engaged in the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, of which Grupa KĘTY S.A. is an official member. Within the adopted 2025 Strategy, we have also set out a specific quantitative goal with regard to suppliers engagement in the sustainable development of the Capital Group. The goal is to verify and certify 100% of our suppliers until 2025.