ESG Pathway for A Sustainable Growth

Amidst the current global economic volatility, businesses face significant challenges, including environmental issues, climate change, social inequalities, and corruption. This is why ESG - Environmental, Social, and Governance - has emerged as a key approach that businesses worldwide are adopting as a strategy. The approach involves aligning operations with the goals of sustainable growth, risk reduction, and efficiency enhancement. It also aims to foster confidence among investors and consumers and to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SCGC, a leading integrated chemical business for sustainability, has been operating with a constant focus on sustainability and is among the first to drive the circular economy in Thailand. It has adopted the ESG guidelines as a strategic and operational blueprint across the value chain. This goes hand in hand with building resilience, agility, and speed while preparing to develop its personnel (reskill & upskill) to enhance their ability to navigate and adopt technological developments and innovations. These efforts aim to expand competitive capabilities, elevate work standards, maintain leadership in the ASEAN region, and foster sustainable growth.

SCGC has defined its sustainability operation strategy into three aspects:

1. Increase Our Products and Solutions for a Better World SCGC's innovative product, SCGC GREEN POLYMER^TM, is developed in line with the circular economy principle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste. It offers a comprehensive solution covering four aspects: (1) REDUCE – reducing resource consumption and maximizing resource efficiency; (2) RECYCLABLE – designing for recyclability; (3) Recycle – adopting recycling; and (4) Renewable – developing solutions to make bio compostable plastic and plastic made from renewable resources. SCGC is striving towards the ambitious goal of selling a total volume of 1 million tonnes of green polymer by 2030. In 2022, it already achieved sales of over 137,000 tonnes.

SCGC is committed to developing technology and innovation to actualize all possibilities, responding to megatrends and emerging industries. It aims to elevate people's quality of life and cater to consumer and environmental needs, in line with the concept of INNOVATION THAT'S REAL, a strategy aimed at addressing genuine issues and contributing to a better world.

2. Engage Sustainable Operations through Solutions for Our Society SCGC is dedicated to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. This goal will be pursued by intensifying energy efficiency efforts, increasing clean and renewable energy use, and engaging in carbon sequestration and offsetting efforts. A notable example is the collaboration with the Norwegian research organization SINTEF in the PYROCO2 project, which explores technologies to capture and utilize carbon dioxide. Additionally, adopting AI Supervisory in plants ensures optimal energy use and further aids in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Concurrently, SCGC forges collaborations along the value chain to develop products and solutions with a low carbon footprint.

Furthermore, SCGC prioritizes maintaining international safety standards. The company is committed to achieving zero accidents and work-related illnesses, promoting the health of employees and suppliers, and fostering a safety-conscious mindset both within and outside the workplace.

3. Enhance Solutions for Our Society SCGC has been at the forefront of driving sustainability projects and pioneering the implementation of the circular economy in Thailand.

Close the Loop for Plastic Waste: SCGC promotes proper waste management, specifically recycling used plastics to prevent environmental contamination. In 2022, through various initiatives and partnerships, SCGC managed to recycle over 2,470 tonnes of plastic waste. A notable example is the Waste-free Community Project, an initiative developed from the company's internal "Bang Sue Model" of waste management. This project was expanded to encompass communities surrounding SCGC's plants through the Home-Temple-School-Waste Bank model, an integrated network for effective waste management. This initiative has fostered a significant behavior change within the community concerning waste sorting. The Upcycling Milk Pouches Project, another initiative, originated from the school section of the Waste-free Community Project. SCGC provided waste management education to students and collaborated with schools to address waste issues, discovering that milk pouches accounted for a significant portion of waste. This led to an initiative, upcycling milk pouches into new items, such as chairs and plant pots, providing a practical demonstration of resource recycling to the younger generation.

Promoting Community Enterprises: SCGC is committed to enhancing community products through innovation and technology, incorporating circular economy principles, and promoting local identity to create unique selling points and sustainable income for communities. SCGC focuses on community capacity development, engaging experts to share knowledge and experiences that improve skills and support the upgrade of production processes and packaging to meet standards. As a result, community enterprises generate an annual income of approximately 7 million baht.

Transparency and Fairness: SCGC places a high value on ethical conduct and social responsibility, considers all stakeholders' interests, and maintains transparency and integrity in accordance with the principles of good corporate governance and the SCGC Code of Conduct. This approach helps to foster sustainable growth and enhance competitiveness.

The SCGC Code of Conduct is mandatory for all new employees to ensure appropriate, transparent, and accountable work practices. Additionally, SCGC has established the SCGC Supplier Code of Conduct, requiring suppliers to adhere to the same standards. Ethics e-Testing and Policy e-Testing are conducted annually, with all employees required to achieve a 100% pass rate to ensure understanding and compliance with these guidelines.

Regarding the Anti-Corruption Policy, SCGC comprehensively assesses the risks associated with corruption and has defined preventative measures for potential risks. Regular internal audits and control checks are carried out, along with processes for receiving complaints and whistleblowing.

The outcomes of their efforts across all three ESG dimensions serve as indicators reflecting long-term competitive abilities and sustainable growth. While investors value ESG as an essential criterion for investment decision-making, focusing not solely on profit, consumers increasingly demand environmentally friendly products and services that originate from socially responsible businesses. Therefore, operating with transparency in ESG is not merely an option but a pathway towards solid long-term growth, parallel with creating a better world for future generations.