disposed of. With the idea, they want to promote ecological
thinking in society and ensure that everyone can contribute
to a better future. The award was connected with a fourday
trip to the East Coast of the U.S., where the students
were able to visit one of the ALTANA Group’s largest research
and production sites at BYK USA in Wallingford in the fall
of 2019 and also take a trip to New York City.
Social Commitment and Donations
BYK USA is committed to sustainability. Its various sites support
several social projects in their respective communities.
They focus on social, cultural, and ecological areas. An example
is the Chester site, which regularly supports the local
fire department. Among the projects that BYK USA supports
as part of its commitment to sustainability is the Toyland
project, in which toys are collected for children from needy
families. In Earth City, the company also collects toys in
support of the Toys for Tots organization.
BYK USA in Wallingford participates in an annual fundraising
race for breast cancer research and has also sponsored
several projects for the benefit of cancer patients and
a local rehab clinic. In an initiative launched by the com-
pany each year, all proceeds go to a foundation for children
with cancer. During the Christmas season, the Adopt-A-
Family program enables employees to grant a wish on a wish
list to needy families. At the annual Christmas party, donation
boxes are set up and employees collect clothes for the
food pantry and funding needed by the local animal shelter.
In May 2019, ELANTAS PDG took part in a blood donation
campaign launched by the Mississippi Valley Regional
Blood Center, which helped provide care to 70 patients at
local hospitals. For many years, ELANTAS PDG has been
supporting local social projects and at the same time streng-
thening its employees’ personal commitment to sustainability
(see also page 42 ff.). One example is our renewed
participation in the traditional World Food Day, where employees
pack around 300 meals for the needy each year.
As part of a fund-raising campaign by the St. Louis Area Food-
bank in the spring of 2019, ELANTAS PDG was able to
fill four containers with non-perishable food, thus providing
several hundred meals for needy people.
ELANTAS Beck India is supporting several projects over
a longer period of time that focus on education, health,
and hygiene. Thanks to the financial support, schoolrooms
in two villages in the Indian state of Gujarat have been
renovated, a water treatment plant has been installed, and
new toilet facilities built. In the outskirts of Pune, where
ELANTAS Beck India has its largest site, three rural boarding
schools that obtain their drinking water from borewells
were equipped with water treatment plants. Many children
who grow up in slum areas lack suitable premises for learn-
ing. In the aid organization Surajya Prakalpa, ELANTAS Beck
India has found a partner that has set up schoolrooms in
four poor areas of Pune where children can learn in peace.
In the context of the annual ECKART Christmas donation
campaign “Donations Instead of Gifts,” a total of around
20,000 euros were made available. Two children’s aid
organizations and the Christmas campaign “Joy for All” of
the Nürnberger Nachrichten newspaper each received
6,666 euros.
98 Social Commitment