Highlights

  • ALTANA met all of its environmental performance goals and in most cases significantly exceeded them.
  • The ALTANA Group started operating its first co-generation power plant.
  • We achieved the goal of remaining below 80 lost work days due to occupational accidents per million annual work hours (WAI 3) in 2011.


  •  BYK Additives & Instruments reached the goal of remaining below 4.5 occupational accidents with more than one lost work day per million annual work hours (WAI 1) in 2011.
  • ACTEGA DS successfully launched PROVALIN.
  • ALTANA met the terms of its voluntary commitment to the Global Product Strategy.
  • The first operational lighting systems were equipped with energysaving LEDs.
  • The new laboratory of BYK-Chemie was pre-certified in accordance with the requirements of the Green Building Council.
  • ALTANA introduced new Guiding Principles worldwide.
  • ACTEGA did not experience any significant incidents for 14 months.
  • ECKART did not experience any significant incidents for 27 months.
  • Numerous preventive health activities were initiated.
  • IReflex by ECKART offers significant energy savings potential for our customers.
  • ALTANA developed numerous products to help our customers preserve the environment (see Section 2).
  • The first eco-balances were certified.
  • ECKART GmbH introduced a new production procedure with significant energy savings potential.

Lowlights

  • An explosion in a pilot plant at BYK-Chemie in Kempen caused material damage. The exothermal chemical reaction caused an accumulation of source materials because of an absent catalyst effect. Such accumulations will be prevented with analytical controls in the future.
  • Repair work performed in the production of BYK-Chemie in Wesel caused a false alarm and triggered the automatic CO2 fire extinction system. One employee of a contractor firm and a firefighter were injured. Various technical and organizational measures were put in place to prevent false alarms in the future.
  • An explosion occurred in the dust filter of aluminum atomizer at ECKART America in Louisville. Two employees sustained injuries. Although the extent of destruction makes it difficult to determine the cause, it is suspected that accumulated moisture may have reacted with the aluminum dust to form hydrogen. To prevent similar occurrences, the plant was optimized and the maintenance schedule has been intensified.
  • A deflagration occurred at ELANTAS Tongling when a powder in solvent was added to a tank. One employee suffered severe burns. The analysis of the cause and countermeasures has not yet been completed.
  • A similar incident occurred at BYK-Cera, where another employee suffered severe burns. The facility will be restructured to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
  • At ELANTAS Beck, the use of a scraper while cleaning a pipeline caused the leak of some 250 kg of liquid at the scraper station. The material was fully captured and contained with a chemical binding agent. The cause, an erroneous switch in the control station, will be eliminated with a change in programming. The space around the incident site has been given sufficient retention volume.
  • ECKART America in Louiswille was fined US-$ 700,000 for a reporting violation associated with permit requirements.
  • Two waste reduction projects at ELANTAS PDG and ACTEGA Terra have not yet produced the expected results.
  • With 7.4 occupational accidents, we fell short of the goal of remaining below a maximum of 4.5 occupational accidents with more than one lost work day per million annual work hours (WAI 1) in 2011.
  • ALTANA still does not have enough women working in management positions