New environmental targets for DSM plants

Heerlen, The Netherlands — DSM plans to upgrade its production plants worldwide, to ensure they all comply with the strict environmental standards that apply in Europe and the US within the next five years.

The plan will position it among the global top 25% of comparable companies in terms of safety, health and environmental performance, according to a 24 March statement.

DSM’s targets include a 75% reduction in its global emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and a 20% reduction in its nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Older plants outside Europe and the US will have to meet these new standards, the Dutch group emphasised.

“We will be investing time and money over the next five years to bring certain plants in countries such as China, India and Brazil up to standard,” said Jan Zuidam, DSM’s deputy chairman.

For 2005, DSM reported a fall in the number of lost-workday cases per 100 employees from 0.22 to 0.17, while energy consumption dropped from 66 to 57 petajoules and environmental incidents fell from 522 to 501.

Greenhouse gas emissions, last year, were virtually unchanged compared to 2004, though the production of non-recyclable waste increased by 10,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes, the group also stated.