Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 97
the third time. In the national finals in 2018, a team of students
from Nagold, Germany, won the prize for an innovative
business idea called GAIA, whereby a digitally controlled
system enables plants to be fertilized individually. The idea
is innovative because modern measuring devices are combined
with a watering system to optimally supply nutrients to different
plants. The award included a four-day trip to the East
Coast of the U.S., where the students visited one of the
ALTANA
Group’s largest research and manufacturing sites at
BYK USA in Wallingford in August 2018.
Open House Day
At various sites, ALTANA participated in the Germany-wide
Open House Day of the Chemical Industry, hosted by almost
200 chemical companies and seven universities, on September
22, 2018. Around 7,500 interested people, neighbors,
and customers came to ALTANA’s and BYK’s headquarters in
Wesel, a record number of visitors. There was a wide-ranging
offer for both adults and children. Laboratory experiments
and informative tours of production gave visitors diverse, interesting,
and not-everyday insights into the world of chem-
istry. A colorful stage program, participatory events for children,
and a performance demonstration by the Wesel fire
department
were among the highlights. BYK rounded off the
proceeds from token sales to 10,000 euros and donated
the sum to the Löwenzahn & Pusteblume booster club for
pediatric palliative medicine.
In Grevenbroich, more than 400 visitors used the Open
House Day to tour the manufacturing and laboratory
facilities,
finding out how ACTEGA Rhenania products are
developed and produced. The products are used worldwide
in packaging for many foods. In a coatings training
session, visitors gained deeper insights into the world of
coatings, and in a special “children’s laboratory” kids could
witness exciting experiments. A diverse framework program
rounded off the Open House Day. ACTEGA Rhenania
topped up the income from the sale of food and drinks
and donated the money to the Grevenbroich-based Tafel
Existenzhilfe, which distributes food to people in need,
and to Haus St. Stephanus, which assists youth and the
handicapped.
The doors were also open to the public at BYK’s sites
in Wesel-Emmelsum, Kempen, and Schkopau, at ACTEGA’s
site in Lehrte, and at ELANTAS’ Hamburg site.
Social Engagement and Donations
ELANTAS Beck India has sponsored a number of projects over
a longer period of time. The projects focus on the fields
of education, health, and hygiene. For example, support from
ELANTAS Beck India enabled a school in the village of
Pungam
and a school in Ankleshwar to be refurbished and
new toilet facilities to be built. In other villages and schools,
new sanitary facilities for students, a water treatment plant,
and computer-learning technologies in the form of socalled
e-learning kits were financed. In the slums of the city
of Pune, the company supports an initiative that kindles
children’s interest in curricular and extracurricular learning
offers and shows them the importance of education.
In addition, ELANTAS Beck India works with the charity
organization Suhrud Mandal. ELANTAS Beck India provided
the organization with funding for printing schoolbooks
for hearing-impaired children throughout the state of
Maharashtra.
Among the seven partnerships that ELANTAS
Beck India supports within the framework of its commitment
to sustainability is the educational initiative Swadhar
IDWC, which with its program enables girls from socially
weak classes to receive an education, strengthens their confidence,
and thus enables them to be role models for other
people in society. In 2018, the company supported nine participants
in the educational program.