Case study: How Chemplast Sanmar enhances the living standards of local communities
A leading manufacturer of PVC Resins, Caustic Soda, Chlorochemicals, Refrigerant Gas and Industrial Salt, Chemplast Sanmar is the market leader in Paste PVC and the second largest producer of Suspension PVC in India. Acknowledging the contribution of local communities to the growth and success of its business, Chemplast Sanmar is committed to forging a close partnership with them and improving their living standards in an inclusive and sustainable manner.
This case study is based on the 2017-18 Sustainability Report by Chemplast Sanmar published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
Chemplast Sanmar seeks to build strong relationships with local communities, contributing to socio-economic development in the areas where it operates. Tweet This! In order to enhance the living standards of local communities Chemplast Sanmar took action to:
- support rural health
- advance rural education
- increase access to water
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Chemplast Sanmar has identified;
- How Chemplast Sanmar proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Chemplast Sanmar to enhance the living standards of local communities
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2017-18 Sustainability Report Chemplast Sanmar identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, energy, occupational health and safety, material usage, labour-management relations. Among these, enhancing the living standards of local communities stands out as a key material issue for Chemplast Sanmar.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Chemplast Sanmar engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Nearby communities
| · Need-based regular interaction by public relations function and discussion/meeting with community representatives · Open dialogue with local communities · Survey to derive the priorities on community development initiatives/programmes · Celebration of cultural festivals/ occasions |
| Government and regulating authorities
| · Monthly inspections · Periodical reports · Regular interactions/review |
| Employees
| · Intranet facilities · Monthly reports · Internal magazines · Communication meetings · Training programmes · Drills |
| Customers | · Discussions · Personal interactions on an ongoing basis · Plant visit |
| Suppliers/ transporters
| · Discussions · Personal interactions on a regular basis · Plant visit · Quarterly transporters meet · Daily vehicle GPS monitoring report |
| Media
| · Advertisements · Press conference · Interviews of senior management |
| Contract labours
| · Induction training · Training programme on various safety topics · ‘Tool Box’ in the morning · Fire drills · Emergency response training |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Chemplast Sanmar carried out workshops with key stakeholder groups, including regular employees, contract employees, suppliers, customers, and regulators. In these workshops, Chemplast Sanmar distributed carefully designed questionnaires to obtain a quantitative rating of sustainability topics, based on stakeholder views.
What actions were taken by Chemplast Sanmar to enhance the living standards of local communities?
In its 2017-18 Sustainability Report Chemplast Sanmar reports that it took the following actions for enhancing the living standards of local communities:
- Supporting rural health
- Chemplast Sanmar regularly organises mega medical camps near its plant facilities. The number of beneficiaries have been 542 and 210 at Mettur and Karaikal, respectively. Chemplast Sanmar also ran three rural health centres at Chitrapettai, Nochikadu and Semmankuppam villages in the Cuddalore region and four rural health centres at Veeranur, Thangamapuripattinam, Panangadu and Mottur in Mettur region, for which it provided regular aid for their smooth functioning. The total number of beneficiaries were 8518 and 17084 at Mettur and Cuddalore, respectively. Additionally, Chemplast Sanmar arranged various awareness campaigns such as a puppet show on Dengue awareness at the Mettur facility. Chemplast Sanmar’s support for inculcating best hygiene practices also included supplying dustbins to the ESI hospital, to help prevent disease-spread. The total expenditure incurred by Chemplast Sanmar in this focus area for 2017-18, was INR 1,683,017 for all plant facilities combined.
- Advancing rural education
- Chemplast Sanmar’s initiatives towards building an educated and well-aware society involve book donation drives, awareness campaigns, donations to village schools for carrying out development activities and running evening tuition centres at various locations. In 2017-18, there were 72 and 84 school children benefitting at the Karaikal and Mettur evening tuition centres respectively. The consolidated budget for the reporting year’s initiatives undertaken in the rural education sector amounted to INR 646,890.
- Increasing access to water
- Approximately 55% of Chemplast Sanmar’s CSR expenditure is utilised to provide access to water to local communities. Various developmental activities, like installation of water facilities at primary schools, water supplies to rural areas, desilting operation at Stanley reservoir were carried out as part of Chemplast Sanmar’s CSR programme and, in 2017-18, the quantity of drinking water supplied to nearby communities of Mettur covering 25 villages in 3 panchayats was 488372 KL. Overall, a total expenditure of approximately INR 6,053,664 was made by Chemplast Sanmar in the financial year 2017-18, towards access to water. Other CSR initiatives undertaken by Chemplast Sanmar included donations towards necessary infrastructural development, carrying out celebrations of events at temples and community areas, and livelihood generation initiatives.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 203-1 Infrastructure investments and services supported
Disclosure 203-1 Infrastructure investments and services supported corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
- Business theme: Infrastructure investments
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
- Business theme: Infrastructure investments
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
- Business theme: Infrastructure investments
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
- Business theme: Infrastructure investments
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
- Business theme: Infrastructure investments
Disclosure 413-1 Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and development programs does not correspond to any SDG.
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Chemplast Sanmar, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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